French Gov. to Auction Off $34 Million in Bitcoin (611 BTC); Majority From 2019 GateHub Hack

An auction firm has been contracted to host the sale of 611 BTC before the end of the week on behalf of the French government. A French government agency in charge of the recovery and management of seized and confiscated assets will now sell 611 BTC using a local auction house. In early March, the French government officials confiscated a significant amount of the crypto assets from a 2019 GateHub heist. The theft of the crypto assets included Ripple XRP; the French government may have exchanged them for BTC to ease sale on the crypto market. Using prevailing Bitcoin market prices, the 611 BTC are valued at $34 million. Individuals wishing to take part in the auction were given up to March 13 to register. The auction will kick off on Wednesday, March 17th, at 9 a.m. The auction features lot sizes of 437, which will range in Bitcoin amounts of 0.11 and up to 2 BTC. Kapandji Morhange has been shortlisted by French Agency for the Recovery and Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets (AGRASC) to hold the auction. On other related news, the US government is set to auction about 0.75 BTC valued at about $42,268, using the current value this week. The government officials did not divulge details about the assets' source or what led to the auction. This is not the first time when governments are selling seized and confiscated crypto assets via auctions. At the start of this year, Finnish authorities made headlines after a decision was made to auction Bitcoins that had been seized concerning criminal investigations connected to drug trafficking and related crimes. At the time, the government confiscated about 1,666 BTC, which was worth at the time, $860,000.