The US government announced that it will start the final Silk Road Bitcoin auction

The U.S. government announced on Monday that it will begin auctioning off all remaining bitcoins from the defunct underground marketplace Silk Road .

According to a press release from the United States Marshal Service ( USMS ), 44,341 bitcoins (worth about $ 1.5 million on the day of this press release ) will be auctioned from 8:00 to 14:00 on November 5th. There will be 22 blocks of bitcoins available : 21 blocks each offering 2,000 bitcoins and one block offering 2,341 bitcoins. The winner of the auction will be announced the next day , November 6th .

The USMS further stated:

“ The registration period is from October 19 to noon on November 2 , during which time potential bidders must complete all registration requirements. Interested bidders must submit new registration documents and cannot use old registration documents previously submitted to the Marshal Auction. ”

In 2013 , the USMS seized 144,000 bitcoins from Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht in a raid. Afterwards, the USMS liquidated the bitcoins in two auctions. The first auction was in June 2014 , and 30,000 bitcoins were sold to well - known venture capitalist Tim Draper ; while the second auction of 50,000 bitcoins was partially won by Draper and Barry Silbert .

The second auction saw less voter turnout than the first (about 75% less ). Many cited the depreciation of Bitcoin as one of the main reasons for the lower turnout. Bitcoin was very volatile, fluctuating between $ 360 and $ 370 at the time .

Even so, the USMS could have successfully auctioned all Bitcoin blocks at the time.