Last week, the US Marshals Service auctioned off 4,041.58424932 Bitcoin. The world’s most popular crypto arrived in the hands of the federal government due to a bevy of legal actions due to various federal criminal, civil and administrative cases.
The auction was a cash-only affair with winning bidders notified on the day after the auction which took place on February 18th. A deposit of USD $200,000 was required to be considered as a potential bidder. The bids were sealed so competing parties were unable to view other bids.
Of note was the fact that the Marshals said they would not transfer Bitcoins to an “obscene public address, a public address apparently in a country restricted by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a public address apparently associated with terrorism, other criminal activities, or otherwise hostile to the United States.”
Foreign bidders were accepted.
At current prices, the feds could have ended up with around $40 million.