Tim Draper wins Silk Road Auction, partners with Vaurum to provide Bitcoin liquidity in emerging markets. explores how Draper will put these Bitcoins to good use.
Last week, the Bitcoins seized from the illegal online drug marketplace were put on auction by the U.S Marshals' Service. Silk Road was a drug marketplace based on the philosophy of Agorism.Using Bitcoin, Silk Road was aimed at providing a free marketplace where users can buy, among other things, illegal substances. The site was however against things like sale of weapons of mass destruction, assassinationsto align with the non-aggression principle, banning the sale of anything which was aimed to harm.
The entire project was the idea of Ross William Ulbricht, who holds an advanced degree in chemical engineering. He allegedly used the alias "Dread Pirate Roberts" and is being charged with one count each of narcotics trafficking conspiracy, computer hacking conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. According to media reports his attorney, Joshua Dratel has been quoted saying "The evidence can't establish that he is who they say he is, or that he's done what they say he's done" . Ulbricht lacks funds for his defense and a worldwide funding effort has been setup by his friends and family on http://freeross.org/. He is incarcerated in Brooklyn, NY and awaiting trial.
US Marshal Service planned to auction the Bitcoin in nine blocks to multiple bidders, but Tim Draper outbid every other bidder. Tim Draper is an American venture capital investor who has made a name for himself as a free thinker. Draper University of Heroes is his brainchild and he was also an early investor in Skype and Hotmail . He spends his massive fortune towards his vision of liberated markets and human potential.
Bitcoin is the internets first real currency and therefore the world's most popular digital currency. The technology of cryptocurrency that fuels Bitcoin is here to change the way we pay for things and transfer currency. There were a total of 63 bids made by 45 bidders. Bidders were notified about the result after a weekend long wait after posting thier bids.
"This auction was for the bitcoin contained in wallet files that resided on Silk Road servers," the US Marshals Service wrote in a press release. "This auction did not include the bitcoins contained in wallet files that resided on certain computer hardware belonging to Ross William Ulbricht that were seized on or about October 24."
Tim offered this in a statement:
"Bitcoin frees people from trying to operate in a modern market economy with weak currencies. With the help of Vaurum and this newly purchased bitcoin, we expect to be able to create new services that can provide liquidity and confidence to markets that have been hamstrung by weak currencies.
Of course, no one is totally secure in holding their own country's currency. We want to enable people to hold and trade bitcoin to secure themselves against weakening currencies."
"The United States government may have shut down Silk Road but the the bigger picture is still overwhelming, unless the government manages a rather unlikely matrix-style takeover of humanity, it seems like the day is not far when people will be able to live entirely free through the internet. The idea of the country and government will simply have no relevance to the lives of those who choose to avoid it. " said Manna Kanuga
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