On October 8, according to Protos, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of Battle Born Investments and others for 69,370 bitcoins (worth $4.4 billion) related to the Silk Road. Protos said this means that these bitcoins may soon be auctioned. Previously, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the U.S. government was allowed to dispose of these confiscated bitcoins in accordance with the law. Battle Born Investments had tried to obtain ownership of these bitcoins through appeal, but the Supreme Court's ruling made its request fail. Since the lower court ordered the U.S. government to "dispose of the confiscated defendant's property in accordance with the law," the U.S. Marshals or other agencies may soon receive instructions from the court to sell the batch of bitcoins that were once stolen from the Silk Road.