US govt to auction Silk Road bitcoins

US govt to auction Silk Road bitcoins

The US Marshals' office is auctioning off nearly 30,000 bitcoin seized last year from the Silk Road dark web marketplace.

The online auction will take place on 27 June for the 29,656.5 coins - worth just under $18 million at current rates.

Anyone interested in the haul will have to register their interest with the Marshals' office first, providing a government issued photo ID and wiring a $200,000 deposit from a bank within the US.

The sale comes after Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, gave the go-ahead in January to liquidate the bicoins, which were swiped from the Silk Road server in September.

At the time of the raid, the government also seized an additional 144,336 bitcoins that were found on computer hardware belonging to Silk Road founder Ross William Ulbricht.

There are no plans yet to sell these coins, which Ulbricht has demanded be returned to him.

Comments: (0)

Trending