US Marshals are bad at bitcoin hodling

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/02/12/us-marshals-are-bad-at-bitcoin.html

1 Like

So market geniuses they are not.
They sell when they have an auction I don’t think they are in it for the investment value.

That said maybe getting a guy who has a better handle on it would be a good idea.

2 Likes

Why would they hold these assets at all?

It’s a crypto-currency whose value is almost entirely based on a speculative market, and whose production has a non-trivial carbon cost.

They should auction it the moment they come in possession of it.

IMO, YMMV

13 Likes

Are they SUPPOSED to be trying to maximize profit from criminal seizures? I thought the point of taking property was theoretically supposed to be about disincentivizing crime rather than to turn a fat profit for the government.

18 Likes
1 Like

US Marshals are bad at bitcoin hodling

Which prompts the question: How DOES one properly hodle a bitcoin, exactly?

13 Likes

US Marshals are bad at bitcoin hodling

hodling /hädliNG/ : (v) 1. from the Sumerian hodl, a small furry coin purse made from a gopher pelt, hodling is the act of covering your cat in double stick tape, tying a string around its midsection, and swinging it through a storm drain to pick up loose change. 2. The act of burying an acorn in the backyard with the expectation that when it grows into a mighty oak you will be rewarded with many more of the same.

ETA ninja’d by @anothernewbbaccount

12 Likes

10 Likes

And what of public universities ? should their science and computer labs be trying to make a profit off of their captive audiences ?

Not at all. You answered my question, perfectly! :wink:

5 Likes

Why are they auctioning money? Just cash it in on an exchange.

3 Likes

Easy. You set yourself an exit price and when it arrives, sell.

I think they don’t consider it money.

They consider it property or an asset.

Bitcoins are just another form of beanie babies.

5 Likes

braveheart-hold

1 Like

By law they’re not allowed to maximize profit on seized assets nor maintain prolonged ownership of confiscated property. They can only auction for fair market value.

Escheatment laws dictate parameters around liquidation of seized and abandoned property.

4 Likes
8 Likes

Teh internets, eh? Sigh. :roll_eyes:

ETA I prefer @Faffenreffer’s explanation.

4 Likes

I’ll be darned. TIL that hodling is a thing. Also that I should look stuff up when I don’t understand it.

7 Likes

Well, y’know, if they auctioned them off, then clearly the people who should be faulted here are the second-place bidders, amirite?

1 Like