Sydney will host the first ever bitcoin auction outside the United States next month, with Ernst & Young selling 24,518 coins on behalf of an ‘undisclosed vendor’. The currency was allegedly confiscated from an Australian man involved in commercial drug trafficking in 2014.
Bitcoin, if you’re still not familiar, is a popular ‘cryptocurrency’, which has no central authority and works purely on digital, peer-to-peer transactions. It’s a source of some controversy, as governments try to regulate it and it maintains notoriety for being used as a ‘dark currency’ in online markets for illegal goods.
But that doesn’t stop speculators and investors from getting stuck in.
Regardless, bitcoin is doing better than it has in the past – after a much publicised crash in 2013, it’s being reported today that it’s at a 21-month high after rising 21 percent over 4 days.
The auction is only the second of its kind, after U.S. Marshalls auctioned off $160 million worth of bitcoin seized from Ross Ulbricht, founder of online drug marketplace Silk Road.
Adam Nikitins of Ernst & Young told Business Insider that he expects the majority of the buyers of this batch to come from North America and Europe.
“With each lot of Bitcoin currently valued at more than AUD $1m, we are targeting sophisticated investors who can see the value of investing in a growing digital asset,” he said.
“Interest in this technology continues to grow. The number of bitcoin transactions since 2012 has quadrupled and parties are seeing more opportunities and uses for the technology.”
We don’t know how many PEDESTRIAN.TV readers are interested in buying cryptocurrency in $1 million batches, but if you’re out there, submissions of interest for the auction open on June 7. Also, feel free to submit your interest in becoming a patron of this website. We will accept monthly submissions of $10 million.
Source: Business Insider.
Photo: Getty Images.
