Back in 2014 and 2015, the u.s. government held three Bitcoin auctions in connection with the prosecution of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.

Venture capitalist Tim Draper won the 2014 auction which drew some 45 bids from names including Barry Silbert and Coinbase.

Ulbricht challenged the legality of the forfeiture but ultimately dropped the case allowing the government to collect the proceeds from the auctions.

Ultimately, it kind of seems like the government should have thought twice about the fire sale, because they sold 144,336 Bitcoin for roughly $48 million. That's just “slightly” less than the $2.9 billion (with a “b”) they would have fetched had the Justice Department waited and sold them when Bitcoin peaked late last year.

Asked by CNBC whether they regretted missing out on what, when the inquiry was made back in October, was a $600 million payday, the U.S. Marshals said they “don't look for investment opportunities and there was no reason for them to hold onto the bitcoins.”

Well, having learned exactly nothing from that experience, the Marshals are going to go ahead and auction off another 3,813 Bitcoins seized in connection with all manner of federal, civic and administrative cases.

If you've got $200,000 to put up as a deposit you can participate in the auction which will take place over six hours on January 22. Bidder registration opened Thursday and the deadline is this coming Friday.

So you know, go ahead and put your bids in before these idiots decide to maybe hang on to their Bitcoin stash instead of selling it for what, in retrospect, will amount to pennies on the dollar.

Via U.S. Marshals Service