Venture capitalist Tim Draper, the sole winner in a June auction of about 30,000 bitcoins, said he plans to bid again when the U.S. government sells an even bigger cache of the virtual currency next month. <\/p>\n
I am a big believer in bitcoin, and I believe it to be one of the most important technologies that have come along in our lifetime, Draper said in an e-mail to Bloomberg News. The price is even better than the last auction. <\/p>\n
The U.S. Marshals Service said yesterday it plans to sell 50,000 bitcoins in a Dec. 4 auction, as it gradually gets rid of the bitcoins seized after the illicit Silk Road marketplace was shut down last year and its operator, Ross William Ulbricht, was arrested. <\/p>\n
Draper, co-founder of investment firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, paid an undisclosed sum in the last auction, which attracted 45 bidders. The 30,000 bitcoins were worth about $19 million based on exchange prices at the time. <\/p>\n
Since then, the value of bitcoins has declined about 42 percent to $373.64 apiece today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which represents an average of bitcoin prices across leading global exchanges. That values that 50,000 being auctioned at almost $19 million. <\/p>\n
In June, Draper said he planned to help provide access to bitcoins in developing economies and use the bitcoins won in the auction as a source of liquidity. <\/p>\n
I have made 17 investments in bitcoin companies so far, and I plan to make more, Draper wrote in the e-mail. <\/p>\n
To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at okharif@bloomberg.net<\/a> <\/p>\n To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sarah Rabil at srabil@bloomberg.net<\/a> Reed Stevenson <\/p>\n Press spacebar to pause and continue. Press esc to stop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read the original here: Venture capitalist Tim Draper, the sole winner in a June auction of about 30,000 bitcoins, said he plans to bid again when the U.S. government sells an even bigger cache of the virtual currency next month. Continue reading
\nBitcoin Auction Winner Draper to Bid Again in December<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"