Two-time auction winner Tim Draper has revealed to CoinDesk that he is not participating in today’s auction of more than 44,000 BTC confiscated from convicted Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht.

The venture capitalist and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) partner was the sole winner of the first US government auction of nearly 30,000 BTC (then valued at roughly $18m) held last July, again purchasing 2,000 BTC (worth $750,000) in an auction of 50,000 BTC held in December 2014.

Though short in his remarks, Draper told CoinDesk that he "didn’t participate" in today’s auction, which is scheduled to conclude at 18:00 UTC.

Draper did not elaborate on any reasons underpinning the decision.

Confirmed participants

in the auction so far include bitcoin hedge fund Binary Financial and over-the-counter bitcoin trading firm Genesis Trading. Major US bitcoin exchanges including Coinbase, Gemini and itBit have stated that they are not participating or declined to comment on their involvement in the sale.

Representatives of the US Marshals Service (USMS), the government agency overseeing the auction, did not respond to requests for clarity as to when any winner in today’s auction could be expected to be announced.

Draper was, however, optimistic about the recently rising price of bitcoin in his remarks, concluding his email by writing: