The US Government's First Bitcoin Auction

On June 27, 2014, the US Marshals auctioned 29,656 Bitcoin seized from Silk Road. Forty-five bidders submitted 63 bids across 10 lots. When the auction closed twelve hours later, every single lot had gone to the same buyer — who refused to identify themselves.

In October 2013, the FBI arrested Ross Ulbricht and shut down Silk Road, the dark web marketplace that had processed over $1 billion in Bitcoin drug sales since 2011. The government seized more than 170,000 BTC — the largest Bitcoin haul in history at the time — with no playbook for what to do with it.

The US Marshals structured the sale as a sealed-bid auction, breaking the first tranche of 29,656 BTC into 10 blocks. Nine days before bidding opened, they sent registration confirmations with all bidder email addresses in the CC field instead of BCC. Over 155 registered bidders had their identities exposed to each other.

Bidding opened at 8 AM ET. Sealed bids, 12 hours, approximately $19 million in total value at the day's price. When the Marshals tallied the results, a single bidder had won all 10 blocks — every lot, the entire 29,656 BTC — and declined to be named.

For five days, the Bitcoin community speculated. On July 2, Tim Draper confirmed it was him. Draper had already written the first VC check into a Bitcoin startup — $500,000 into CoinLab in 2012. He partnered with Vaurum, a Bitcoin exchange startup, to deploy the coins as liquidity in developing economies. His stated rationale: "Bitcoin frees people from trying to operate with weak currencies."

The US government becoming a Bitcoin seller was more consequential than it first appeared. The Marshals ran two more auctions through 2015, liquidating over 100,000 additional BTC. Each auction, conducted through official government channels, was a de facto acknowledgment that Bitcoin was real property worth seizing, cataloguing, and auctioning. No conference panel had done as much for Bitcoin's legitimacy.

Part of an ongoing series on Bitcoin history. This event falls on June 27, 2014.

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June 27, 2014 | 12 years ago today

# The US Government's First Bitcoin Auction

![](https://m.stacker.news/146509)

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On June 27, 2014, the US Marshals auctioned 29,656 Bitcoin seized from Silk Road. Forty-five bidders submitted 63 bids across 10 lots. When the auction closed twelve hours later, every single lot had gone to the same buyer — who refused to identify themselves.

## The Seizure

In October 2013, the FBI arrested Ross Ulbricht and shut down Silk Road, the dark web marketplace that had processed over $1 billion in Bitcoin drug sales since 2011. The government seized more than 170,000 BTC — the largest Bitcoin haul in history at the time — with no playbook for what to do with it.

## The Auction Setup

The US Marshals structured the sale as a sealed-bid auction, breaking the first tranche of 29,656 BTC into 10 blocks. Nine days before bidding opened, they sent registration confirmations with all bidder email addresses in the CC field instead of BCC. Over 155 registered bidders had their identities exposed to each other.

## One Bidder Takes Everything

Bidding opened at 8 AM ET. Sealed bids, 12 hours, approximately $19 million in total value at the day's price. When the Marshals tallied the results, a single bidder had won all 10 blocks — every lot, the entire 29,656 BTC — and declined to be named.

## Tim Draper

For five days, the Bitcoin community speculated. On July 2, Tim Draper confirmed it was him. Draper had already written the first VC check into a Bitcoin startup — $500,000 into CoinLab in 2012. He partnered with Vaurum, a Bitcoin exchange startup, to deploy the coins as liquidity in developing economies. His stated rationale: "Bitcoin frees people from trying to operate with weak currencies."

## What It Meant

The US government becoming a Bitcoin seller was more consequential than it first appeared. The Marshals ran two more auctions through 2015, liquidating over 100,000 additional BTC. Each auction, conducted through official government channels, was a de facto acknowledgment that Bitcoin was real property worth seizing, cataloguing, and auctioning. No conference panel had done as much for Bitcoin's legitimacy.

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*Part of an ongoing series on Bitcoin history. This event falls on June 27, 2014.*

The US Government's First Bitcoin AuctionThe US Government's First Bitcoin Auction

The SeizureThe Seizure

The Auction SetupThe Auction Setup

One Bidder Takes EverythingOne Bidder Takes Everything

Tim DraperTim Draper

What It MeantWhat It Meant