Share this article
Ernst & Young to Sell $12 Million in Bitcoin at Auction
Ernst & Young has announced it will auction $12.9m worth of bitcoin confiscated from a former Silk Road user.
By Pete Rizzo
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:18 p.m. Published May 30, 2016, 6:20 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Global professional services firm Ernst & Young has announced it will auction off 24,518 BTC (worth $12.9m) originally confiscated by a user of defunct online dark market Silk Road.
The sale will represent the end of a process that began in late 2014 when law enforcement officials in Australia confiscated the bitcoins from Richard Pollard, a Melbourne native who was later sentenced to 11 years in prison for commercial drug trafficking.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Ernst & Young said in a statement today that the auction will be held over a 48-hour period beginning at 12.01am AEST on 20th June 2016. As previous auctions held by the US Marshals Service (USMS) in the US, bitcoins for sale will be divided into blocks of 2,000 BTC (worth just over $1m), with a total of 11 blocks set for sale.
In statements, EY Transactions partner Adam Nikitins said he believes that the auction is likely to attract buyers from North America and Europe, as they were among the most active participants in the four previous auctions held in the US.
Nikitins said:
"We are targeting sophisticated investors who can see the value of investing in a growing digital asset."
Interested parties are now able to submit applications to Ernst & Young for inclusion in the auction before a 7th June deadline, with the goal of all information necessary for the process being collected by 10th June.
Notably, the event is likely to take place prior to the halving of rewards paid to transaction processors on the bitcoin network, scheduled to take place this July.
The timing of the event suggests that the economics of the bitcoin market continue to be a consideration during public sales events of confiscated digital currency.
Auction image via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Crypto selloff accelerates, sending bitcoin back to $91,000
Strategy is an outperformer following MSCI's decision not to exclude the stock from its indices, but any positive reaction was muted by the decline in BTC.
What to know:
- Crypto markets extended overnight losses, with bitcoin now down 3% over the past 24 hours to just above $91,000.
- The CoinDesk 20 Index dropped nearly 4%, led by an 8% decline in XRP, which had been one of the big gainers in early 2026.
- Digital asset treasury stocks are seeing little boost from last night's MSCI decision not to exclude Strategy and other DATs from its indexes.
