Single Bidder Wins Auction of 30,000 Bitcoins Seized in Silk Road Raid

The federal auction of nearly 30,000 bitcoins, worth nearly $18 million at today's exchange rates, has concluded with a single unnamed bidder taking everything home. The U.S. Marshals Service issued a statement Tuesday saying the auction "resulted in one winning bidder," and that "the transfer of the bitcoins to the winner was completed today." Indeed, the liquid nature of the cryptocurrency was on full display as the bitcoins were moved quickly and without any fees from one virtual wallet to another. The new owner, however, remains anonymous — despite a list of interested bidders being accidentally published by the Marshals Service two weeks ago.

The bitcoins were seized during the federal takedown of the Silk Road, an Internet black market. Who got them and for how much will have to wait: the Marshals Service added in an emailed statement to NBC News that "as a general practice, [it] does not release winning bidder names or price information of sealed-bid auctions." Even so, more information should appear soon as losing bidders voluntarily reveal their bid amounts.

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— Devin Coldewey, NBC News