USMS Announces Auctioning of Confisticated Bitcoin Recovered From Criminals

The USMS website states that the authority is working on selling “approximately” 4,040 Bitcoins (4,040.54069820). People willing to take part in the auction are told that a deposit of $200,000 is needed. USMS vows to return the deposit to people who won’t win the bitcoin bid. The losing bidders are told that they would get their money back, in five business days after Bitcoin is distributed amongst the winners of the auction.

Reports are suggesting that the amount in totality would be around $37.4 million. These bitcoins were recovered through multiple criminal, civil and administrative proceedings.

The registration procedure would take place from February 3 until February 12. February 18 has been chosen as the date for the online auction, from 8:00 AM EST until 2:00 PM EST. Winner of the auction would be declared at 5:00 PM EST. However, USMS may take a little longer in declaring their result as it depends on the number of bids they receive, also keeping in account the complexity of the bidding process, which can prolong the bidding time.

Bitcoin Auctioning by The USMS Not New in The Market

The current auctioning of Bitcoin by the USMS is not first of its kind, earlier in January 2018, the USMS sold over 3,800 bitcoins confiscated from similar criminal activities and unauthorized proceedings.

Auctions done by The United States Marshals Service (USMS), aren’t a rare breed as many other governments have also taken initiatives and carried out auctioning of the digital currency. The South Korean government in 2017 decided to put up 216 bitcoins for auction, and the United Kingdom and Ireland-based auction house Wilson Auctions held their maiden auction in February 2018.