Bitcoin chart-watchers are no-doubt glued to their screens at the moment. Over the past twenty-four hours, the price of bitcoin has climbed nearly eight percent to a high of $647 at the Bitstamp exchange — which is up from a 24-hour low of $593. Impressive!
While we can’t say for sure what has caused this increase, there’s been no shortage of news over the weekend related to the United States Marshals Service’s bitcoin auction, which saw the sale of over 29,000 bitcoins seized from the now-defunct (yet, re-established under new management, so to speak) Silk Road illicit marketplace.
It’s a significant climb here, and many in the community can’t help but to wonder how the markets will react once news of a winner gets released (which could be anytime Monday or Tuesday).
Already we’re hearing from some involved that they’ve been contacted by the Marshals Service and notified their bids weren’t quite good enough. Barry Silbert, for example, announced something along these lines Monday afternoon via Twitter:
Announcement: The SecondMarket / Bitcoin Investment Trust bidding syndicate for the US Marshals bitcoin auction was outbid on all blocks
— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) June 30, 2014
Others involved with the auction included Pantera Capital and even Circle Internet financial, but we’ve yet to hear from the prevailing bidders on the matter. Moreover, the Marshals service said earlier today that they “do not have the final number of winning bidders yet,” but things may have since changed since the statement was made.
We want to know what you think: what do you attribute the price increase to, and where do you expect it to go short-term?