Bidder Turnout Ties All-Time Low in Final Silk Road Bitcoin Auction

The fourth and final US Marshals (USMS) auction of bitcoins confiscated during the investigation into online black market Silk Road drew only 11 bidders today, the lowest total since the second auction held in December 2014.

The government agency indicated that 11 registered bidders submitted a total of 30 bids on 22 blocks of bitcoins during today's auction. Twenty-one of the blocks were for 2,000 BTC (valued at $790,000 at press time), while the final block included 2,341 BTC (roughly $926,200).

Participation was once again down sharply from the first auction of nearly 30,000 BTC held in June 2014, when 45 registered bidders placed 63 bids. All the bitcoins for sale at that event were purchased by investor Tim Draper, who revealed to CoinDesk today he did not participate in the latest auction.

Bidder participation rose slightly for a third auction held in March 2015, when 14 bidders placed 34 bids, and the majority of the bitcoins were claimed by secretive bitcoin mining company Cumberland Mining.

A spokesperson for the government agency indicated that submitted bids are currently being reviewed and that the auction is in an "evaluation process".

The USMS said:

The earliest a bidder could announce that they successfully purchased bitcoins at the auction, according to the USMS, would be Monday, once such transfers are finalized.

Auction image via Shutterstock