The United States Marshals Service (USMS) recently announced it would organized an auction this month to sell more than 23 million dollars in bitcoins. This will be the second and the last auction of cryptocurrencies this year organized by this institution.
The auction is scheduled for March 19th and 2,170 bitcoins will be offered for sale on that day. The USMS points out that the potential bidders need to present a deposit of 200,000 dollars to participate in the auction, as well as to fulfill the registration requirements before March 14th.
The auction will be organized in 14 separated and different blocks. There will be two blocks of 500 bitcoins, 11 blocks of 100 bitcoins and one block of 70 bitcoins offered to interested bidders. The USMS says: “This sealed bid auction for approximately 2,170 Bitcoin separated into three series: Series A (2 blocks of 500 Bitcoin), Series B (11 blocks of 100 Bitcoin) and Series C (1 Block of approximately 70 Bitcoin). You will not have the opportunity to view other bids. You will not have the opportunity to change your bid once submitted.”
According to the USMS, the bitcoins were confiscated in various federal crimes, as well as civil and administrative cases. Among them, there are cryptocurrencies confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and some bitcoins that belonged to Shaun Bridges, an ex Secret Service agent sentenced to prison after stealing funds during the investigation called Silk Road.
This auction is the last sale of bitcoins that will be organized by the United States Marshals Service this year and the third one in the last two years. In 2016, the USMS auctioned 2,700 bitcoins, among which were the bitcoins from the cases of Ross Ulbricht and Carl Force.
Likewise, last February a total of 3,600 bitcoins and Bitcoin Cash coins were sold for 30 million dollars to five bidders after being confiscated from the Dark Web.
