Australia is going to witness its first of its kind Bitcoin auction next month, comprising of bitcoins worth nearly A$16 million (approximately $11.49 million) that were confiscated by the authorities, Australian Financial Review reported.

A total of 24,518 Bitcoins were seized from an Australian man convicted of commercial drug trafficking in 2014, Reuters reported. The amount will now be split into 11 lots of 2,000 coins and one lot of approximately 2,518. The auction will be facilitated by Ernst & Young.

"This current wallet is an extremely large holding of Bitcoin," said Adam Nikitins, transaction partner at Ernst & Young. "This will be a pretty hotly contested auction, more competitive than previous auctions because the price volatility has reduced."

Ernst & Young expects the bulk of the bidders to comprise of digital asset investment managers, digital currency exchanges, investment banks and hedge funds and mostly from North America and Europe. 

"Eligibility mostly relies on the ability to transact," said Nikitins of the rigorous registration process which requires a substantial deposit up front. "Given the quantum of Bitcoin that are going to the market, we want to make sure that people can complete the transaction."

To deal with large quantities of seized property, particularly liquid assets such as currency or shares, authorities often prefer going for off-market sales. Nikitins explained that if the process is carried out through exchanges, the substantiall sell order would drag the price considerably down.

The announcement follows the bitcoin auctions conducted by the US Marshals Service last year, which involved the bitcoins confiscated from Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind online drug marketplace Silk Road.

Bidding registration opens on June 1 and will run till June 7. Bidders will be able to bid on one lot or multiple lots. The 48-hour sealed auction will take place at 12.01am on 20 June.