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US To Auction $1.6 Million Worth of Bitcoin From Various Cases (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the tread-carefully dept.

An anonymous reader shares a Reuters report: The U.S. government said on Monday it plans to auction over 2,700 bitcoin that were forfeited during several cases, including the prosecution of the creator of the online black market known as Silk Road. The U.S. Marshals Service said that the online auction would be held on Aug. 22, and that potential bidders must register by Aug. 18. The bitcoin are worth about $1.6 million, according to the Bitstamp exchange. The auction is the latest by the Marshals Service of the digital currency. It completed four prior auctions from June 2014 to November 2015 of bitcoin seized during the prosecution of Ross Ulbricht, who authorities say ran Silk Road.

6 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Who would buy? by scorp1us · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This transfer would kill any pseudo-anonymity in the blockchain. Coins assigned to feds, Feds assigned to you, then can come back and lean on you to account for who you transferred coins to... Opening the question, does a bitcoin's market value depend on who owned it previously?

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    1. Re:Who would buy? by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Coin Washing service would quickly dissolve any link to you. Which is exactly what I would do. Once the Coins are disassociated with any person, they are useless.

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      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    2. Re:Who would buy? by GLMDesigns · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This doesn't make any sense whatsover. The federal government can "buy" and "sell" BTC under aliases and do the same thing, Complete anonymity is one of the things that people desire in a cryptocurrency but it is not essential. Second there is more to anonymity then prevent government agencies from tracking you down, Some folks just like privacy and find Facebook and Google and others intrusive. Bitcoin pseudo-anonymity works quite well under those circumstances.

      The lock on my front door does a good job keeping knuckleheads away but if the US Government wanted to break into my apartment it would be useless to prevent them. That being the case should I stop locking my door when I leave the apartment because it isn't useful against the government actors?

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  2. Not sure what to make of this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So I will reply with a haiku.

    Federal Auction?
    Or gigantic honeypot?
    Caveat Emptor.

  3. Re:Auction of bitcoin? by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Um, no. Due to the fluctuation of Bitcoin and the extended settlement time of Federal auctions you wouldn't be very smart to bid over 60-70% of value.

  4. Re: Auction of bitcoin? by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Which exchange do they choose? The one who will give them the best exchange rate? How would they determine who would give them the best deal? Maybe they could setup an auction. Plus maybe they could open up the auction to everyone, not just a few exchanges. They could call them "Federal Property Auctions".