USS Marshals Auction: 50,000 BTC from Dread Pirate Roberts

Posted by: DeepDotWeb

November 17, 2014

The United States Marshal’s Service (USMS)  announced today  (November 17, 2014) that they will soon commence the second auction of the bitcoins seized from the original Silk Road dark net market in late 2013. This news comes few months after the first  auction , which took place in June.

In the first auction, the USMS auctioned off 30,000 bitcoins that were seized from the site itself (escrow and wallets). This second auction will sell the bitcoins that belonged to Dread Pirate Roberts, the administrator of the first Silk Road dark net market and alleged online identity of Ross Ulbricht.

This auction is scheduled to take place over six hours on December 4, during which the Marshals will sell off 20 blocks of bitcoins, in chunks of 2,000 or 3,000 at a time. To participate in the auction, bidders must register in advance and supply the required documentation by December 1.

The 50,000 bitcoins that are being sold in this auction are part of the 144,000 bitcoins that were seized from Ross Ulbricht’s personal computer after he was arrested in San Francisco in October 2013.

At the previous auction—in June of 2014—29,655 bitcoins were sold for approximately $18 million to Tim Draper, a venture capitalist. Since the initial auction, the Bitcoin price has decreased significantly to around $380 at the time that this article is being written.

from the official USMS website:

THIS SEALED BID AUCTION IS FOR A PORTION OF THE BITCOINS CONTAINED IN WALLET FILES THAT RESIDED ON CERTAIN COMPUTER HARDWARE BELONGING TO ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT, THAT WERE SEIZED ON OR ABOUT OCTOBER 24, 2013 (“COMPUTER HARDWARE BITCOINS”).

ON JANUARY 27, 2014, THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ENTERED A STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR INTERLOCUTORY SALE OF BITCOINS WHEREIN THE UNITED STATES AND ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT AGREED THAT THE UNITED STATES MAY SELL ANY PORTION OR ALL OF THE COMPUTER HARDWARE BITCOINS ON A DATE OR DATES IN A MANNER TO BE DETERMINED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

THIS NOTICE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL BUT INVITES INTERESTED PARTIES TO SUBMIT A BID FOR PURCHASE. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED WITHOUT RECOURSE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES MARSHALS SERVICE.

Updated: 2014-11-17