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List of Possible Silk Road Bitcoin Bidders Allegedly Leaked by US Marshals

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A list of potential buyers for almost 30,000 bitcoins confiscated from the now-defunct Silk Road black marketplace has been leaked via email by the US Marshals Service (USMS).The original intent of the email was to inform interested parties about an updated FAQ related to the bitcoin auction. The USMS staffer who sent the email allegedly inadvertently CC’ed the list rather than BCC’ed, making the names viewable for all recipients.The list details a diverse group of possible bidders representing members of the bitcoin community and the investment world, as well as varied private citizens.The list of names includes:Daniel Folkinshteyn, assistant professor at Rowan UniversityBarry Silbert, CEO for SecondMarketLuther Lowe, director of public policy for YelpMalcolm Oluwasanmi, chairperson of Little Phoenix Investment GroupFabrice Evangelista, quantitative arbitrage at BNP ParibasMichal Handerhanm, co-founder and COO of Bitcoin ShopDave Goel, managing general partner of Matrix Capital ManagementDinuka Samarasinghe, investment professionalChris DeMuth Jr., Wrangeley CapitalFred Ehrsam, co-founder, CoinbaseJonathan Disner, corporate counsel at DRW Trading GroupWilliam Brindise, head investment manager at DigitalBTCMichael Moro, director at SecondMarketJennifer R. Jacoby, lawyer at WilmerHaleSam Lee, co-founder, Bitcoins ReserveAvarus CorporationAdditional emails from the USMS provided to CoinDesk state that the names are only those who have expressed interest in the auction.The email, allegedly from the US government, explains:“One of the emails that we sent out this morning inadvertently showed a list of some of the individuals who have asked a question or questions about the pending bitcoin auction. We apologize for the error.”Notably, the email address which sent the original message to potential buyers was the same the USMS required bidders to use when sending information to be considered.$18m in bitcoin at stakeThe USMS is hoping to sell the Silk Road bitcoins, which are currently worth around $18m, in nine separate blocks. According to the government agency, there are strict guidelines that must be adhered to in order for potential buyers to be entered into the auction.Those interested in purchasing some of the confiscated Silk Road bitcoins have until 23rd June to submit information to the USMS. The auction itself will take place on 27th June, with bidders being notified of the results sometime on 30th June, the agency has said.Some organizations and investors who have previously expressed interest in buying the bitcoins were not represented on the leaked list. This suggests that the leaked list only represents some of the bidders, meaning that others are in contention for the 29,656.5 BTC.Silk Road saga continuesThe auction is set to take place months after the US government first began investigating Silk Road and its alleged mastermind, Ross Ulbricht. The roughly 30,000 bitcoins were taken from the site’s master wallet, with the USMS announcing last week that the bitcoins would be up for grabs during several rounds of bidding.The US government first announced its intent to sell the bitcoins this January, a decision which caused a strong price reaction from bitcoin investors.Notably, the 30,000 BTC total does not include the estimated 140,000 BTC belonging to alleged Silk Road leader Ross Ulbricht, who has sued to contest the sale of these assets.The US Marshals Service has been contacted to verify the emails, but at press time, has not responded.Additional reporting provided by Stan Higgins, Emily Spaven, Grace Caffyn and Pete Rizzo.Bitcoin auctionSilk RoadUS Marshals Service
Original author: Joon Ian Wong