50,000 of Ulbricht’s Bitcoins up for Auction by US Govt, Auernheimer Stakes Claim

The US is set to sell off 50,000 bitcoins previously owned by jailed Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht in a sealed auction, it has been announced.
Registration has already commenced for bidding on the coins, which were seized in October 2013 during a raid on Ulbricht’s computer equipment, and will run until March 2. The auction is made up of two series, 10 blocks of 20,000BTC and 10 blocks of 30,000BTC respectively.
Bids for the auction, the third of its type and the first since Ulbricht’s conviction, are subject to strict rules: participants may not change their bids after submission and all bids are placed in secret. According to the US Marshals Service, a total of 144,336BTC was found in Ulbricht’s possession, and following next month’s auction the US will have sold 130,000, the New York Times notes.
The latest auction comes at an interesting time for the Bitcoin economy, with current prices generating speculation, the paper reports, as to whether Bitcoin is a ‘desirable investment.’ A former investment banker who asked to remain anonymous told CoinTelegraph that it ‘could easily bring the price of BTC down to US$150 within a short time period following the closing of the auction.’ Another conversely stated, ‘[U]sually after auctions the price goes up, because the bottom is set.’

This post was published at Coin Telegraph on 2015-02-19.