USMS to auction off 2,700 bitcoins on August 22

The US Marshals Service (USMS) is inviting interested parties to register for an auction of 2,700 bitcoins (approximately $1.6 million) to be held soon.

According to the official announcement, the bitcoins were forfeited in various federal criminal, civil and administrative cases, including former federal agent Carl Force IV, Silk Road mastermind Ross Ulbricht, along with bitcoins confiscated by the Internal Revenue Service, the US Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, and others.

The bidder registration began on Monday and will run until August 18th. The required deposit to participate in this auction is $100,000.00 USD. The auction will be held on August 22, 2016, from 8:00 AM EDT to 2:00 PM EDT. The winner will be notified on the day of the auction itself.

Thereafter, the winning bidder must wire purchase funds to the USMS by 2:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, August 23, 2016. Failing to provide the USMS with a copy of the wire transmittal receipt by this date will result in disqualification of the bidder, forfeiture of the bidder’s deposit and selection of another winning bidder.

“No bitcoin transfer will be made until the USMS has confirmed receipt of all purchase funds. The bitcoin transfer process will begin immediately following receipt of purchase funds. The winning bidder will be given private instructions related to the transferring of the bitcoins”, the announcement reads.

This marks the first bitcoin auction by the USMS this year. The agency has held several auctions in the past two years, with the final Silk Road auction held in late 2015. It saw 11 registered bidders compete for blocks totalling 44,000 BTC.