U.S. Marshals set to auction off confiscated Bitcoin stash

According to the Reuters news agency the US Marshals Service plans to auction off over 2,700 Bitcoins with a value around $1.6 million on August 22.

The cyber-currency being offered for sale was seized by enforcement authorities in several cases, including the high-profile Silk Road prosecution of founder Ross Ulbricht, who in May last year was convicted and handed a double life sentence without parole for creating and being the administrator of Silk Road, a website on the dark web which allegedly let its users buy and sell Class A drugs.

Ulbricht has subsequently appealed the conviction on grounds that two government agents who worked on the case against Silk Road, Carl Force and Shaun Bridges, were both found guilty of corruption, extortion and theft of bitcoins belonging to website.

Lyn Ulbricht, the defendant’s mother, has made allegations in media interviews that the corrupt government agents had unfettered, high level admin access to Silk Road; and the ability to change, remove and add material to the site; as well as steal over a million dollars, and that this therefore tainted evidence was suppressed and not allowed to be known by the jury.

The August 22 auction will require bidders to deposit $100,000, and bidders have until August 18 to register.