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U.S. marshals to auction 50,000 Bitcoins belonging to alleged Silk Road mastermind

The U.S. Marshals Service will hold a sealed-bid auction of 50,000 Bitcoins that were seized from Ross Ulbricht, who is accused of running Silk Road, an online black market for drugs and other illicit activities.

By Amy R. Connolly
A medallion bearing the Bitcoin digital currency logo. (CC/Zach Copley)
A medallion bearing the Bitcoin digital currency logo. (CC/Zach Copley)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marshals Service will auction 50,000 Bitcoins, worth about $19 million, seized from alleged Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. The December 4 auction comes just months after the Marshals Service's first Bitcoin auction of 30,000 Bitcoins.

The sealed-bid auction will split the 50,000 coins into several lots, including 10 blocks of 2,000 Bitcoins and 10 blocks of 3,000 Bitcoins. Bidders must put down a $100,000 or $150,000 deposit, and will have a six-hour window to submit sealed bids for each lot.

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Registration begins on Monday at 9 a.m. and will end at noon Dec. 1. Eligible bidders will be notified on Dec. 2, and the winner or winners will be notified on Dec. 5. Those bidders must prove their identities and have a required amount of cash; they also must prove they are not affiliated with Ulbricht or Silk Road.

Ross Ulbricht is accused of being the mastermind behind Silk Road, an online black market. Authorities said his pseudonym was Dread Pirate Roberts. (Facebook)

A similar auction was held in June. Tim Draper, a venture capitalist, won the whole lot that was worth $19 million.

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In October 2013, authorities seized 144,336 Bitcoins from Ulbricht's computer. Additional auctions are anticipated. Ulbricht, who allegedly went by the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts, is facing charges of money laundering and computer hacking.

In early November, authorities shut down Silk Road 2.0, an attempt to revive the original Silk Road, and charged a San Francisco resident with operating the illegal website.

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