Australia is selling A$16m (US$11m) in confiscated¹ bitcoins in the first of such auctions² held outside the US, as demand for the cryptocurrency surges to its highest level in almost two years.

澳大利亚将出售政府没收的价值1600万澳元（合1100万美元）的比特币，这将是在美国以外首次举行此类拍卖。目前市场对这种加密货币的需求飙升至近两年的最高水平。

EY, the auditing⁴ and financial services group, said on Monday it had been engaged to sell 24,518 bitcoins, which were confiscated as “proceeds of crime” during 2015.

审计和金融服务集团安永(EY)周一表示，它已受托出售24518枚比特币，它们是在2015年作为“犯罪所得”被没收的。

The auction³ comes as the value of the world’s most popular digital currency hit $534.47, its highest since August 2014, according to CoinDesk, which operates a bitcoin price index.

澳大利亚举行此次拍卖之际，根据提供比特币价格指数的CoinDesk的数据，这种世界上最流行的数字货币的价值涨至534.47美元，为自2014年8月以来最高。

Prices have risen about 25 per cent since the start of the year, putting the market value of all bitcoin in circulation at $8.29bn.

自今年初以来，比特币价格已上涨约25%，使投入流通的所有比特币的市场价值达到82.9亿美元。

“The trading history of bitcoin has been volatile,” said Adam Nikitins, EY transactions partner. “But we are now seeing a more steady increase in prices and we are confident of having a hotly contested auction.”

“比特币的交易历史一直起伏不定，”安永交易业务合伙人亚当•尼特金斯(Adam Nikitins)表示。“但我们现在看到价格呈现比较稳定的上涨，我们有信心举办一场竞拍踊跃的拍卖。”

The US Marshals Service conducted several similar bitcoin auctions in 2014 and 2015, which were recovered during the prosecution⁵ of Ross William Ulbricht, founder⁶ of a black market website known as the Silk Road.

美国法警局(US Marshals Service)曾在2014年和2015年举行了数次类似的比特币拍卖，那些比特币是在对黑市网站“丝路”(Silk Road)创始人罗斯•威廉•乌布利希(Ross William Ulbricht)提起公诉的过程中收缴的。

EY did not reveal the identity of the vendor⁷ for its Australian auction, which is believed to be an arm of the Australian government. The Sydney Morning Herald⁸ reported in October 2014 that criminal authorities had confiscated 24,500 bitcoins from a Melbourne-based drug dealer⁹.

安永没有透露其澳大利亚拍卖会的卖主身份，据信那是澳大利亚政府的一个部门。《悉尼先驱晨报》(Sydney Morning Herald)曾在2014年10月报道，刑事当局从一个墨尔本毒贩没收了24500枚比特币。

Australia’s bitcoin sale will be conducted via a 48-hour sealed bid auction beginning at 12.01am on June 20. Bidders¹⁰ are able to submit bids on 11 lots of 2,000 bitcoins and one lot of 2,518 bitcoins, and can bid on multiple lots.

澳大利亚的比特币出售将通过48小时密封投标拍卖进行，从6月20日零时01分开始。竞拍人将能够对11手2000枚比特币和一手2518枚比特币投标，可以对多手投标。

Mr Nikitins said he expected interest from digital asset managers, digital currency exchanges, and investment banks and hedge funds, which were experienced in dealing¹¹ with bitcoins.

安永的尼特金斯表示，他预计在处理比特币方面经验丰富的各类机构都会有兴趣，包括数字资产管理人、数字货币兑换机构，以及投资银行和对冲基金。

“Interest in this technology continues to grow. The number of bitcoin transactions since 2012 has quadrupled and parties are seeing more opportunities and uses for the technology,” he said.

“对这一技术的兴趣继续增长。2012年以来比特币交易数量翻了两番，各方都看到了该技术的更多机会和用途，”他说。