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For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

usmarshals.gov

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Re: For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

#3

Post by Aaronneyer »

Will be interesting to see how this announcement effects the price of bitcoins. I would imagine there will be an initial drop out of panic, but if we see some wealthy individuals with a vested interest in bitcoin buying these up, it could very much cause a large shift upwards in price.

Re: For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

#5

Post by emhart »

zwtaylor wrote: post #2

I don't have a deep grasp of Civil Forfeiture but it seems like this is unusual considering DPR has not been convicted of anything yet. Is this part of a plea bargin or something similar?

from the link, and their all caps treatment preserved:

ON JANUARY 27, 2014, THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ENTERED A STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR INTERLOCUTORY SALE OF BITCOINS WHEREIN THE UNITED STATES AND ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT AGREED THAT THE UNITED STATES MAY SELL ANY PORTION OR ALL OF THE COMPUTER HARDWARE BITCOINS ON A DATE OR DATES IN A MANNER TO BE DETERMINED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

So, it sounds like he clearly agreed to something, as he is mentioned by name here.

Re: For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

#6

Post by ncallaway »

zwtaylor wrote: post #2

I don't have a deep grasp of Civil Forfeiture but it seems like this is unusual considering DPR has not been convicted of anything yet. Is this part of a plea bargin or something similar?

Civil forfeiture is different from criminal forfeiture in that it does _not_ require a guilty verdict. Civil forfeiture is against the _property_, and it puts the burden of proof on the owner of the property to prove that it was obtained legally.

Here's another explanation of it that's probably better than mine: https://www.contributoria.com/issue/2014-08/539b517ba588a791...

Re: For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

#7

Post by lucb1e »

Aaronneyer wrote: post #3

Will be interesting to see how this announcement effects the price of bitcoins. I would imagine there will be an initial drop out of panic, but if we see some wealthy individuals with a vested interest in bitcoin buying these up, it could very much cause a large shift upwards in price.

> Will be interesting to see how this announcement effects the price of bitcoins.

That's what people asked last time when, if I remember correctly, the FBI was selling off some of the Silk Road coins. Nothing really happened, maybe a few percent drop, but that happens every day so I'm not even sure that was due to the sell.

Re: For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

#9

Post by xchaotic »

I'll keep an eye out for this. I think the final price will reach quite close to the market price with no guarantee of being able to sell at that price. Still might be worthwhile for someone to build up their position considerably without spooking the exchanges.

Re: For Sale: 50,000 Bitcoins

#10

Post by tigerente »

zwtaylor wrote: post #2

I don't have a deep grasp of Civil Forfeiture but it seems like this is unusual considering DPR has not been convicted of anything yet. Is this part of a plea bargin or something similar?

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has recently done a show summarizing the issue around Civil Forfeiture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks
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