Share this article
US Marshals Release Update on Silk Road Bitcoin Auction
45 registered bidders participated in the USMS event, with 63 bids received over the course of the auction.
By Pete Rizzo
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 10:55 a.m. Published Jun 30, 2014, 4:05 p.m.
The US Marshals Service (USMS), the federal agency tasked with managing the auction of more than 30,000 BTC seized from defunct online black market Silk Road, has released new data about Friday's event.
The agency told CoinDesk that 45 registered bidders participated in the event, and that 63 bids were received over the course of the auction, which ran from 6am EST to 6pm EST on 27th June.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The USMS suggests that more information about the auction could be forthcoming, though the agency was vague about what it would ultimately release.
A spokesperson told CoinDesk:
"The award process is ongoing, so we do not have the final number of winning bidders yet."
The number of confirmed bidders in the auction, however, continued to grow today, with The Wall Street Journal indicating that Boston-based bitcoin financial services company Circle had participated.
With the news, Circle joins other notable names in the bitcoin industry as confirmed bidders including Barry Silbert's investment vehicles SecondMarket and Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT), BitFury investor Binary Financial, bitcoin-based hedge fund Pantera Capital and online retailer Bitcoin Shop.
The data release follows a similar announcement from SecondMarket and BIT CEO Barry Silbert, who indicated this weekend that 42 bidders participated in his investment syndicate.
The syndicate model allowed SecondMarket and BIT to place bids on behalf of foreign investors, as well as those who wanted to place smaller bids between $25,000 and $50,000 through its offering. As such, it is unlikely that such data has been incorporated into the latest US Marshals data release.
As recently as 26th June, the agency told CoinDesk that it was still deliberating how much information it would release about the auction, and whether such official announcements would include the names of any winning bidder or bidders.
CoinDesk will continue to monitor this developing story.
USMS Image via Wikipedia Creative Commons
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin Faces Japan Rate Hike: Debunking The Yen Carry Trade Unwind Alarms, Real Risk Elsewhere
Speculators maintain net bullish positions in the yen, limiting scope for sudden JPY strength and mass carry unwind.
What to know:
- Impending BOJ rate hike largely priced in; Japanese bond yields near multi-decade highs.
- Speculators maintain net bullish positions in the yen, limiting scope for sudden yen strength.
- BOJ tightening may contribute to sustained upward pressure on global yields, impacting risk sentiment.
Top Stories
