U.S. begins auction for 50,000 bitcoins tied to criminal website
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Marshals Service on Thursday started auctioning off 50,000 bitcoins following the conviction of Ross Ulbricht for running Silk Road, the underground website where authorities said drugs and other illegal goods could be bought using the virtual currency. The six-hour online auction of roughly $13.5 million worth of bitcoins at current prices began at 8 a.m. EST (1300 GMT). The Marshals Service conducted auctions in June and December for nearly 80,000 bitcoins seized during the Silk Road raid in 2013. Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper said he would be a bidder.