US Marshals nets $18.7M in new round of Bitcoin sale

The U.S Marshals Office successfully auctioned 2,170.7 legacy Bitcoin (BTC) to two buyers, according to a Coindesk report.

On Thursday, a spokesman from the U.S. Marshals Office announced that the cryptocurrency had been distributed to the winning bidders. The first bidder received 2,100 BTC while the second got the remaining 70.7 BTC, according to the report. The BTC buyers remain unidentified.

The sold cryptocurrency were confiscated in connection with various federal criminal, civil and administrative cases that ranged from drug enforcement agency actions to federal trials. One of the cases listed was that of Shaun Bridges, the Secret Service agent who was convicted of stealing $800,000 in BTC while investigating the Silk Road case in 2015.

The combined total value of the BTC at the auction amounted to $18.7 million. It was, however, not clear whether the BTC was sold at the market price on the auction. There were 42 registered bidders at the auction, with 39 bidding on the seized cryptocurrency.

In its official announcement last March 5, the U.S. Marshals Office said interestedt parties were being required to register and make a deposit of $200, 000 for the auction.

The seized BTC were divided into 14 lots; two blocks of 500 BTC, 11 blocks of 100 BTC, and one block of 70 BTC.

The sale on Thursday marks the latest Bitcoin auction held by the U.S. Marshals Office. In February, the agency sold more than 3,600 BTC to five winning bidders. The total amount collected from the auction was worth more than $30 million at the time. One of the winners was Riot Blockchain, who claimed to have bought 500 BTC from the auction.

In 2016, the U.S. government sold 2,700 BTC worth about $1.6 million. In total, the agency has held seven auctions to sell BTC to the public.