Recently, the United States government finished up a Bitcoin auction, following in the footsteps of the French government’s decision to sell 611 BTC in an online auction earlier this week. The United States General Services Administration, also known as GSA, recently held an auction in which it sold 0.7501 Bitcoin and has since made more than $53,000 from the sale.
It is interesting to note that the previously mentioned lot of 0.70501 BTC was sold for approximately 21% more than the current price of Bitcoin on the market, as it was purchased for $53,104. At the conclusion of the bidding process, the price of one Bitcoin was very close to $55,400. “Privacy concerns” were given as the reason for GSA’s refusal to reveal the origin of the cryptocurrency assets. However, they stated that the items for their auctions can come from a variety of sources, “including seized property,” among other places.
However, the public was given the opportunity to place crypto bids for the very first time during the event that lasted for two days. In most cases, it sells office supplies and vehicles that were previously owned by the government. The acting regional administrator for the Southeast Sunbelt Region of the General Services Administration, Kevin Kerns, spoke with The Washington Post about his thoughts on the auction. According to him, “auctioning off this share of cryptocurrency broke new ground for our GSA Auctions platform,” and he also stated that the government organisation was “extremely pleased by the enthusiasm” from its bidders.
Even though this is the first time the GSA is holding a Bitcoin auction, other Fed agencies have done so in the past. Since 2014, the United States Marshals Service has put up for auction approximately 175,000 Bitcoins that were seized in connection with the infamous Silk Road case.
Bitcoins that have been illegally obtained are frequently sold at auction all over the world. The Finnish Customs Authority made the decision at the beginning of this year to sell 1,666 Bitcoins that had been seized earlier in connection with criminal investigations related to drug trafficking.
The most recent event, however, was an auction that was held by the French Agency for the Recovery and Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets. During this time, a bidder paid an amount that was higher than the standard selling price of Bitcoin, one that was five times higher than the asset’s current value for the 0.11 BTC lot.