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Does this mean the US government is about to convert $3 billion worth of Bitcoin into USD? If so I wonder how the crypto market will react to that

throwaway742 4y ago
They auction it off so it's not like they are going to dump it all on an exchange or something. In the past it hasn't really effected much.
- asah 4y ago
  liquid market: think of it as $3B worth of demand-for-BTC that's *not* buying bitcoin on the spot market and propping up the buy-side of the exchanges...
  - RainaRelanah 4y ago
    A lot of bulk purchasers of crypto already do this via dark pools, at a discount, to avoid tanking the spot price.
- robocat 4y ago
  And one way to get “clean” bitcoins, because they have been washed. Presuming you can buy small amounts from whomever buys them in bulk. I am interested in crypto, but I really don’t want to be a retail schmuck buying tainted coins. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30224637S https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30224637S
j0hnyl 4y ago
Less than one percent of circulating BTC. I don't think it will even register.
- HaZeust 4y ago
  It responded to Tesla's short for less.
- sweezyjeezy 4y ago
  That is not how it works, the price will move via market liquidity - the people buying / selling bitcoin at a given time, the coins sitting in wallets (over 90%) have no effect. This source says it took $91M to move the price of bitcoin by 1% (about a year ago), bigger shifts could have a cascading effect. https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-america-claims-it-costs-just-93-million-to-move-bitcoin-s-price-by-1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-america-claims-it-cos...
colinmhayes 4y ago
This happened over a year ago if I remember correctly so I suspect the government has already sold a lot of it.
- tmm84 4y ago
  I'm pretty sure they either sold it or used it too. The article does state it was unusual they didn't consult the authority that fined him.

throwaway742 4y ago

They auction it off so it's not like they are going to dump it all on an exchange or something. In the past it hasn't really effected much.

asah 4y ago
liquid market: think of it as $3B worth of demand-for-BTC that's *not* buying bitcoin on the spot market and propping up the buy-side of the exchanges...
- RainaRelanah 4y ago
  A lot of bulk purchasers of crypto already do this via dark pools, at a discount, to avoid tanking the spot price.
robocat 4y ago
And one way to get “clean” bitcoins, because they have been washed. Presuming you can buy small amounts from whomever buys them in bulk. I am interested in crypto, but I really don’t want to be a retail schmuck buying tainted coins. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30224637S https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30224637S

j0hnyl 4y ago

Less than one percent of circulating BTC. I don't think it will even register.

HaZeust 4y ago
It responded to Tesla's short for less.
sweezyjeezy 4y ago
That is not how it works, the price will move via market liquidity - the people buying / selling bitcoin at a given time, the coins sitting in wallets (over 90%) have no effect. This source says it took $91M to move the price of bitcoin by 1% (about a year ago), bigger shifts could have a cascading effect. https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-america-claims-it-costs-just-93-million-to-move-bitcoin-s-price-by-1 https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-america-claims-it-cos...

colinmhayes 4y ago

This happened over a year ago if I remember correctly so I suspect the government has already sold a lot of it.

tmm84 4y ago
I'm pretty sure they either sold it or used it too. The article does state it was unusual they didn't consult the authority that fined him.