Over $34 million worth of bitcoin will soon be up for auction, as both the U.S. and the French governments are going to be auctioning off BTC from March 15 to March 17. The U.S. government did not reveal where the BTC came from, while the French government will auction funds seized from hackers.
According to French publication Cyberguerre, the country’s government will auction the cryptocurrency it seized from the alleged hackers of GateHub, a London-based cryptocurrency service GateHub. The platform was hacked last year.
As Yahoo Finance reports, the French Agency for the Management and Recovery of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC) will auction a total of 611 BTC, which at current prices are worth nearly $34 million
Kapandji Morhange, a Paris-based auction house, will auction the 611 BTC on March 17. Out of the coins being auctioned, 610 correspond to what was seized during an investigation of the GateHub hack. The alleged hackers, it’s worth noting, have not yet been sentenced, and could receive the proceeds from the auction if they are cleared of all charges.
Similarly, the US General Services administration will auction 0.75 BTC, under lot 4KQSCI21105001. Bidding for the lot is scheduled between March 15-17, in a platform where the government auctions surplus federal assets that include supplies, computers, cars and more.
Bitcoin auctions have often occurred when governments seize assets from hackers or criminals. The most famous one dates back to 2014, when U.S. marshals auctioned 30,000 BTC seized from the darknet market Silk Road.
The auction drew 40 bidders, but was ultimately won by venture capitalist Tim Draper, who claimed the 30,000 BTC at the time worth $19 million. The coins are now worth over $1.6 billion. Draper is a well-known bitcoin bull, who when BTC broke $26,000 said the cryptocurrency’s price would 10x “by end of 2022 or early 2023.”
Draper has claimed to own a “lot of other cryptocurrencies” in addition to BTC, but how much cryptocurrency the billionaire owns isn’t known.
Featured image via Pixabay.
