Last week the U.S. government held an auction for 30,000 bitcoins that were previously seized. Reuters is reporting that Tim Draper a well known Silicon Valley VC purchased the coins. In the article Draper noted that he saw the auction as a sign that Bitcoin had a real value to society, if not they would have just buried them. I am not sure that anyone can say if that is actually true, the government knows there is value for these coins and it makes sense to liquidate. Whether they are giving Bitcoin a vote of confidence is open for debate.
From the article:
Venture capitalist Tim Draper, sole winner of an auction last week of 30,000 bitcoins by the U.S. Marshals Service, called the sale a vote of confidence by the government in the nascent crypto-currency.
The well-known Silicon Valley investor partnered with Palo Alto-based Vaurum, which facilitates over-the-counter bitcoin trading, for the sale but would not discuss how much he paid.
Draper, a major backer of Vaurum, will partner with the startup to use the coins as a liquidity source for Vaurum’s trading platforms in emerging markets, Draper told reporters in Palo Alto on Wednesday.
“If they thought that they were going to try to put the kibosh on bitcoin, I think they would have just buried these,” Draper said, referring to the government’s stance on the currency. “Instead, they decided that this was of real value to society.”
The bitcoins, a virtual currency that is “mined” by computers solving complex algorithms, were seized last year by the Marshals Service in a crackdown on illegal online activity.
Acceptance of bitcoin has been growing as more merchants allow customers to pay for goods and services with the currency.
Read the full article here
Well, it was reported here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-03/melbourne-bitcoin-trader-loses-70000-to-hacker/5567292 that the “winner” actually paid more than the market value.
What was also reported is the huge stuff-up by the US Marshal Service. Frightening…