The US Marshals Service (USMS) has revealed that its next bitcoin auction could take place in the first quarter of 2015.

The federal agency tasked with managing assets seized during criminal investigations has to date auctioned off nearly 80,000 BTC confiscated in the FBI's shutdown of now-infamous online black market Silk Road.

The USMS did not reveal further details about the timing to CoinDesk, stating only:

The agency also declined to elaborate further on ongoing plans for upcoming auctions, including how many bitcoins may be auctioned off or if the price of bitcoin would be considered when deciding the timing of the sale.

The USMS previously revealed that it had timed its most recent auction of 50,000 BTC in part to avoid market disruption.

In conversation, however, a spokesperson from the agency stressed that this is only the anticipated date, and that plans for the auction could change.

In the coming months, the USMS is expected to sell 94,336 BTC, worth $17.5m at press time, as it liquidates the remainder of the bitcoins previously held by Ulbricht, who only yesterday admitted to founding Silk Road as an “economic experiment”.

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