A single entity successfully scooped up the entire ~30,000 haul of Bitcoins that the US government seized from Silk Road. The successful bidder at the government's auction was V.C. Tim Draper (in partnership with Vaurum) who is infamous as the ideator of viral marketing, a marketing method for spreading a software application from customer to customer (making one wonder if the $19 million bid was more publicity stunt that investment). However, Vaurum has launched trading platforms in emerging markets, and we will be partnering with Tim to leverage the pool of ~30,000+ bitcoins as a liquidity source. The price of Bitcoin continues to rise, now at $650 - up from around $570 when the auction began.
Tim offered this in a statement:
“Bitcoin frees people from trying to operate in a modern market economy with weak currencies.
With the help of Vaurum and this newly purchased bitcoin, we expect to
be able to create new services that can provide liquidity and confidence
to markets that have been hamstrung by weak currencies.Of course, no one is totally secure in holding their own country’s currency. We want to enable people to hold and trade bitcoin to secure themselves against weakening currencies.”
Mr. Draper's background...
Timothy Cook Draper is an American venture capital investor. Tim Draper founded Draper Associates in July, 1985, which when joined by John Fisher and Steve Jurvetson became the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (now DFJ). The firm’s investments include Skype, Hotmail, Tesla, Baidu, Theranos, Athenahealth, Solar City, Box, and Parametric Technology among many others. Tim Draper created the DFJ Network, a global network of venture funds who work together to improve service to entrepreneurs, covering 30 cities around the world. Current firms include Draper Nexus (Tokyo), DFJ Athena (Seoul), DFJ Dragon (Shanghai, Beijing), DFJ Esprit (London), among others with domestic offices in NY, LA, Pittsburg, Austin, as well as the hub in Menlo Park, CA. Tim is the ideator of viral marketing, a marketing method for spreading a software application from customer to customer, instrumental to the successes of Hotmail and Skype among others. He is an active angel investor, who has invested in more than 1000 private companies to date.He is the third in a line of venture capitalists. His father, William Henry Draper III, founded the Draper & Johnson Investment Company in 1962 and his grandfather William Henry Draper Jr. founded Draper, Gaither and Anderson in 1958. His father also was chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.Tim is the ideator of viral marketing, a marketing method for spreading a software application from customer to customer
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-02/venture-capitalist-buys-entire-stash-silk-road-bitcoins-us-marshall-auction
