Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/02/12/us-marshals-are-bad-at-bitcoin.html
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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.
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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
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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.
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US Marshals are bad at bitcoin hodling
Which prompts the question: How DOES one properly hodle a bitcoin, exactly?
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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
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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! 
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Why are they auctioning money? Just cash it in on an exchange.
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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.
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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.
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Teh internets, eh? Sigh. 
ETA I prefer @Faffenreffer’s explanation.
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I’ll be darned. TIL that hodling is a thing. Also that I should look stuff up when I don’t understand it.
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Well, y’know, if they auctioned them off, then clearly the people who should be faulted here are the second-place bidders, amirite?
Fucking idiots. I mean, can you believe they also sold those magic beans they confiscated from Jack?
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