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Sweden's Government Sold Bitcoin Today At Above Market Rates

The Swedish Enforcement Agency concluded its week-long bitcoin auction, making nearly 50 percent more than the past market rate.

By Nikhilesh De
AccessTimeIconOct 19, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 7:03 a.m. UTC
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The Swedish government has successfully auctioned off some bitcoin, collecting more than the prevailing market rate in the sale.

The 0.6 BTC – along with an equal amount of bitcoin cash, which was not previously dsiclosed – were sold by the Kronofogden during a week-long auction for a total of 43,000 kroner, equal to roughly $6,841 at press time.

When the auction was first announced last Thursday, the BTC up for grabs was valued at about $3,200. Bitcoin cash, according to CoinMarketCap, is currently trading at around $330.

According to Digital Di, Sweden’s largest digital news organization, the identity of the winning bidder isn't immediately known, nor has the Kronofogden issued an official statement marking the conclusion of the auction.

The auction's unveiling last week was a notable one, given that the Kronofogden – which acts as a kind of debt collection agency – had acquired the cryptocurrency holdings as part of its official duties. According to Di Digital,  one of the other bidders, a member of the day-trading podcast Borspodden confirmed they participated but said they did not win the auction.

Kronofogden is not the first government agency to sell seized bitcoin. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice formally took possession of $48 million it accrued through the sale of 144,336 bitcoins since the closure of the Silk Road dark market.

At the press-time price of about $5,650, those holdings would be worth more than $800 million.

Image via Tupungato / Shutterstock.com.

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