Share this article
US Marshals Office Auctions Off Another $18.7M in Bitcoin
The U.S. Marshals auctioned more than 2,100 bitcoins off on March 19.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 7:43 a.m. Published Mar 22, 2018, 6:45 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
The U.S. Marshals Office successfully sold 2,170.7 bitcoins to two bidders in its most recent auction on March 9, a spokesperson announced Thursday.
In a press statement, the spokesperson said that the bitcoins had been distributed to the winning bidders, one of whom received 2,100 and the other who bought the remaining 70.7.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
It is unclear whether the bitcoins were bought at market prices, but at press time the combined total value of the bitcoins was roughly $18.7 million.
Forty-two bidders registered for the auction, and 39 bids were received, the spokesperson said.
The auction was announced on March 5, when the Marshals stated the coins would be sold in 14 different blocks (as in "lots," not the cryptocurrency meaning of the word).
The smallest auction block contained roughly 70 bitcoins, while the other 13 blocks contained either 100 or 500 bitcoins.
The Marshals last sold bitcoins in February 2018, when more than 3,600 bitcoins were auctioned to five winning bidders. At the time, Riot Blockchain claimed it had bought one of the blocks of 500 bitcoins.
This time, the winners from the March 19 auction have so far not identified themselves.
Stepping back, this is the second bitcoin auction the Marshals have participated in since 2016, when they sold 2,700 bitcoins.
Auction image via Shutterstock
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Paxos' gold token rakes in record inflows as crypto investors turn to the yellow metal
Tokenized gold has improved the traditional store of value metal's utility, while bitcoin trades like a risk asset amid uncertain times, one expert noted.
What to know:
- Paxos Gold (PAXG) posted a record inflow of $248 million in January, boosting its market cap to $2.2 billion.
- The tokenized gold market crossed $5.5B as investors seek stable value amid crypto stagnation.
- The moves occurred as gold prices surged to new records above $5,300.
Top Stories
