5 ms·

This is a typical assest forfeiture auction. They don't want to deal with multiple buyers or non-cash-on-the-spot buyers. They value disposing of assets quickly

This is a typical assest forfeiture auction. They don't want to deal with multiple buyers or non-cash-on-the-spot buyers. They value disposing of assets quickly and cleanly over getting market value.

civilian 10y ago
But it's an auction? Assuming that there are enough buyers with the multi-hundred-k around, they will get close to the market value.
- brianwawok 10y ago
  Blind auction. Everyone makes 1 silent bid, highest wins.
  - wmf 10y ago
    If you want to buy a block of BTC above market price, there are several brokers who would be happy to help you at any time; you don't need to wait for a government auction to do that.
    - kasey_junk 10y ago
      Good. That's what we want from asset seizure auctions.
    - PhasmaFelis 10y ago
      It's kind of a modified The Price Is Right mechanic, isn't it? With the difference that the actual market price is known. So each bidder's goal is to guess how slim a margin every other bidder will try for, and go $1 more than that. In the end, assuming anyone bids at all and all the bidders are rational, someone will make a profit. It just won't be a very big profit, probably.
  - asdfaoeu 10y ago
    Sealed bids are kinda beneficial here incase they only have one serious bidder.
    - brianwawok 10y ago
      Well you have to give them 100k cash to even bid.. so you at least need to be 10% serious to have that kind of money hand over to bid.
asdfaoeu 10y ago
Also not to mention they need to be seen fair doing it. Wouldn't look good if the USMS was seen passing the coins off to their mates.
- ocdtrekkie 10y ago
  Especially considering some of these coins came from a lot seized from the FBI agents (Carl Force was one) who tried to pocket it during the Ross Ulricht case. ;) The risk of something unethical happening here isn't just high... it's already happened to this exact merchandise.
  - bigiain 10y ago
    And with the blockchain permanently recording this stage of those coin's provenance - I'm wondering whether owning them is going to solve or cause problems for someone later... "That's a Silk Road bitcoin!!!" (I wonder if "Real Satoshi Bitcoins" will one day be worth many times their "face value" like Confederate Half Dollars?)
    - function_seven 10y ago
      If my wallet contains 10 bitcoins, and I somehow end up with a Satoshi bitcoin, don't I now have 11 bitcoins that are all alike? When I go to spend one bitcoin, how do you know if it's the Real Satoshi one or if it's one of my others?
      - Natanael_L 10y ago
        Coins have history, but coins spent together gets merged (and partially spent coins get split).
aptwebapps 10y ago
Especially if the proceeds go straight to Treasury and they have to manage the sale out of their existing budget.

This is a typical assest forfeiture auction. They don't want to deal with multiple buyers or non-cash-on-the-spot buyers. They value disposing of assets quickly and cleanly over getting market value.

civilian 10y ago

But it's an auction? Assuming that there are enough buyers with the multi-hundred-k around, they will get close to the market value.

brianwawok 10y ago
Blind auction. Everyone makes 1 silent bid, highest wins.
- wmf 10y ago
  If you want to buy a block of BTC above market price, there are several brokers who would be happy to help you at any time; you don't need to wait for a government auction to do that.
  - kasey_junk 10y ago
    Good. That's what we want from asset seizure auctions.
  - PhasmaFelis 10y ago
    It's kind of a modified The Price Is Right mechanic, isn't it? With the difference that the actual market price is known. So each bidder's goal is to guess how slim a margin every other bidder will try for, and go $1 more than that. In the end, assuming anyone bids at all and all the bidders are rational, someone will make a profit. It just won't be a very big profit, probably.
- asdfaoeu 10y ago
  Sealed bids are kinda beneficial here incase they only have one serious bidder.
  - brianwawok 10y ago
    Well you have to give them 100k cash to even bid.. so you at least need to be 10% serious to have that kind of money hand over to bid.

asdfaoeu 10y ago

Also not to mention they need to be seen fair doing it. Wouldn't look good if the USMS was seen passing the coins off to their mates.

ocdtrekkie 10y ago
Especially considering some of these coins came from a lot seized from the FBI agents (Carl Force was one) who tried to pocket it during the Ross Ulricht case. ;) The risk of something unethical happening here isn't just high... it's already happened to this exact merchandise.
- bigiain 10y ago
  And with the blockchain permanently recording this stage of those coin's provenance - I'm wondering whether owning them is going to solve or cause problems for someone later... "That's a Silk Road bitcoin!!!" (I wonder if "Real Satoshi Bitcoins" will one day be worth many times their "face value" like Confederate Half Dollars?)
  - function_seven 10y ago
    If my wallet contains 10 bitcoins, and I somehow end up with a Satoshi bitcoin, don't I now have 11 bitcoins that are all alike? When I go to spend one bitcoin, how do you know if it's the Real Satoshi one or if it's one of my others?
    - Natanael_L 10y ago
      Coins have history, but coins spent together gets merged (and partially spent coins get split).

aptwebapps 10y ago

Especially if the proceeds go straight to Treasury and they have to manage the sale out of their existing budget.