Tim Draper, Barry Silbert to bid in coming auction for Ulbricht bitcoins

Venture capitalist Tim Draper plans on bidding in the US Marshals Service’s (USMS) upcoming auction of 50,000 bitcoins seized from accused Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht. Draper was the sole winner of the 29,656 bitcoins auctioned off by USMS in the summer, for which he paid an undisclosed amount.

Draper told Bloomberg:

"I am a big believer in Bitcoin , and I believe it to be one of the most important technologies that have come along in our lifetime. The price is even better than the last auction."

Bitcoin prices have nearly halved in value since the first auction.

Through his investment firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper wants to help make Bitcoin accessible to developing economies and use his bitcoins as a source of Liquidity . He says he's made 17 investments in bitcoin companies thus far and plans on making more.

Barry Silbert, founder of SecondMarket and Bitcoin Trust, has also stated his intentions of participating. He also participated in the first round through an investor syndicate he organized:

1/ Announcement: @BitcoinTrust and our bitcoin trading desk will be forming a syndicate to bid in the US Marshals #bitcoin auction... — Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) November 18, 2014

The auction is to be held on December 4, with winners notified the next day.