The US federal agency, Us Marshals, announced the sale of 3,813 bitcoins (worth approximately $ 53,000,000), taken over in connection with several federal, criminal, civil and administrative cases. Interested bidders have until January 19, 2018 by 12:00 EST to register to participate in the auction. However, in order to take part in the tender, bidders must first deposit a USD 200,000 deposit - in cash.
The auction will be held online January 22 from 9:30 to 15:30 EST.
According to the US Marshal report, Bitcoins will be sold in "blocks" rather than individually. The smallest block is 500 coins worth about 1.4 million dollars. The amount of coins is rarely sold because most investors buy fractions of one coin.