US Marshals Service To Sell Nearly $25 Mln Worth Of Seized Bitcoin At Auction
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : source
Governments might be torn about cryptocurrency and what to do with it.
That is until they have it in their hands.
The U.S. Marshal Services is about to hold their third auction of seized bitcoin. The first two auctions netted $1.6 millin and over $40 million.
Based upon today's price, this auction will be around $23 million.
Authored by Aaron Wood via CoinTelegraph.com,
The US Marshals Service has announced that it will be auctioning off approximately 2,170 Bitcoins seized in the course of various federal criminal, civil, and administrative cases, a press release stated March 5.
_image courtesy of CoinTelegraph_
The auction will take place on March 19, 2018 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT.
Bidders who wish to participate must fulfill the registration requirements by noon EDT March 14, complete with a $200,000 deposit.
The bitcoins will be offered in 14 different blocks:_ two blocks of 500 BTC, 11 blocks of 100 BTC, and one block of approximately 70 BTC_. Winning bidders will be notified privately the same day as the auction.
The range of cases from which the bitcoins were seized is listed in an official notice posted on the US Marshals Service website. Among the cases listed is that of Shaun Bridges, the Secret Service agent who was convicted of stealing $800,000 in bitcoins in 2015.
The US Marshals Service has previously auctioned sums of Bitcoin seized in the course of civil and criminal proceedings. On Jan. 22, 2018, the agency sold 3,813 BTC, a sum that was worth over $40 mln by that day's exchange prices.
Previous to this year, the last US Marshals auction of seized Bitcoin was in August, 2016 where 2,700 BTC were sold off. Estimated market value at the time was nearly $1.6 mln.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, government auctions of seized crypto assets have been held worldwide; in Ukraine, South Korea, as well as Australia.
As we noted earlier, there has been some chatter that this auction's supply is responsible for some of the weakness in crypto today.
It will be interesting to see what other coins are involved in seizures in the future. With cryptocurrencies becoming more common, authorities know a certain percentage will be used in illegal affairs. At what point does the government begin to hold onto the tokens as money instead of auctioning it off?
Non-adapted content found at zerohedge.com: Source
Sooooooo The US government auctions the Bitcoin to US citizens who I'm sure have to provide proof of identity. Then the government has traceability of where the coins go to and who owns the accounts. Hmmmm.
That's more than 0.01% of all bitcoins ever, that's a lot
Amazing, this means the US has inadvertently recognized the value of bitcoins and decided they want in the on the money! Or rather they want the USD value it holds.
If a government agency is allowed to sell recovered coins at auction will a court case of the future be able to use this to make crypto's legitimate securities despite not being a well defined organization?
In addition, how would this affect the price of bitcoin and how much per coin do you think auctioneers will pay? Above or below market price? The people able to access the auction clearly are required to have a significant amount of USD to participate thus increasing the 'whales' involved in crypto!
This is a whole lot of wealth in the hands of US Marshal Services. A massive opportunity for the armed forces to generate significant income. The money that will come from this auction will be put to proper use.. purchasing armed officers' supplies like uniforms, police vehicles. And also funding some of the activities of the armed forces like charity events.
These coins must have been confiscated while facilitating crime.. they ended up being sued by the government in a civil law suit. And since the state laws can't protect people who are sued, the government doesn't have hard time in proving that the coins were used in crime. And this is how the US Marshal services could have claimed for the coins hence auctioning them.
If the Marshalls steal a fraction as much as local police then there are going to be a lot of catered early retirement parties for them. Last thing they want to do is provide a clear trail from each case where the 'find' or seize Bitcoin, by showing all block chain addresses.
Police have already stolen large amounts of coins and the problem will get much worse. Blaming North Korea is not going to work forever.
I didn't even realize that they auctioned off seized bitcoins!
I guess the bidders will bid far below the market price for their benefits. Good for those with excess fiat to okay around which portrays the saying that the rich gets richer... After this since the IRS plans taxing cryto users, will bid winners be taxed? Updated a post on same topic of taxation with German plans for it too. Tks for sharing
Funny how many in the US govt call BTC a "scam" yet...have no issues reselling it to an obvious upper class (200k deposit ? That sure as hell ensures regular John Smith cant bid)
See...If anything this shows BTC's value to those who run quickly to "judge/tax it".
It's a smokescreen...they know BTC has value.
I think in the near future once the purge of Alt coins happens (i believe 75% of those alt coins you see in that top 200 list will be gone in 2 years)
BTC will still be King.
No price prediction, but it wont be knocked off it's throne by ETH/NEO/LTC/BCH...or any other alt coin.
Even the government sees the value in "internet fake money" as stated by a few US senators.
If anything i look at this auction as a positive statement to it's future.
great post as always @zer0hedge
If the Marshalls steal a fraction as much as local police then there are going to be a lot of catered early retirement parties for them. Last thing they want to do is provide a clear trail from each case where the 'find' or seize Bitcoin, by showing all block chain addresses.
Police have already stolen large amounts of coins and the problem will get much worse. Blaming North Korea is not going to work forever.