On the morning of January 9, amidst a market downturn, major cryptocurrency media reported a negative news piece stating, "The US Department of Justice has approved the sale of $6.5 billion worth of seized Silk Road Bitcoins." Upon the release of this news, Bitcoin dropped below $94,000.

It's just that when it rains, it pours; I'm sick and also on my period.

Is the news true or false? Will it trigger a panic sell-off?

First, the credibility of the source of this news is low; the official message from the US Department of Justice has not been confirmed. Even if the news is true, based on past procedures for the Department of Justice's sale of seized Bitcoins, it is unlikely that they could sell these Bitcoins in the short term before Trump takes office, and Trump has promised that the US will not sell any Bitcoins during his presidency.

In summary, the US Department of Justice will not actually sell the coins at this stage, and it will not bring selling pressure to the market.

The Bitcoins seized by the US Department of Justice are generally auctioned by the US Marshals Service, rather than being sold directly OTC or on exchanges. This is similar to the auctioning of confiscated properties and assets by judicial departments to make a profit and then remit it to the treasury.

From the release of the news to the actual auction, and the auctioneer actually receiving the Bitcoin, there is a long time gap before it could be sold on the market.

Currently, there are only 11 days left until Trump takes office, and no recent news has been found about auctioning seized Bitcoins.

It can be seen that before Trump takes office, at least the US Department of Justice will not truly sell the Bitcoins seized from Silk Road.

In summary, the widely circulated news this morning that affected the market, "The US Department of Justice has approved the sale of $6.5 billion worth of seized Silk Road Bitcoins," is likely false.

This is not the first time the US government has sold Bitcoin.

In June 2014, the US government publicly auctioned the Bitcoin seized from Silk Road for the first time. Approximately 30,000 Bitcoins were auctioned. Bidders included many investment institutions and individuals, with well-known investor Tim Draper winning multiple bids. In subsequent auctions, the government sold the remaining Bitcoins in batches.

After the auction was completed, Bitcoin prices remained steady around $600 without experiencing a 'collapse'. The auction process demonstrated active bidding from institutional investors, thus reinforcing the 'legitimacy' aspect of Bitcoin.

In December 2014, the second auction of 50,000 Bitcoins, nearly twice the scale of the first auction, was expected to have a similarly pessimistic market outlook. However, after the auction concluded, Bitcoin still fluctuated in the $300 to $400 range without experiencing a continuous crash.

In March 2015, another auction of 50,000 Bitcoins took place, at which point Bitcoin had already rebounded from its previous lows. The market's previous panic sentiment further weakened, and after slight fluctuations between $280 and $300, it quickly stabilized.

In November 2015, the US government ultimately auctioned hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins by the end of the year without causing significant market turmoil. On the contrary, due to constant bidding from buyers, these auctions were interpreted as a symbol of Bitcoin gradually gaining more 'legitimate investment' status.

Until today, the US Department of Justice has been authorized to liquidate the remaining 69,370 BTC (worth about $6.5 billion) from the Silk Road case, which has been dormant for over four years at the Silk Road wallet address "bc1qa5."

According to past selling history, Bitcoin prices may experience a brief price panic, but in the long run, since the US government has often used OTC auctions, it may not sell at market price, thus the negative impact on Bitcoin prices will not last long.

Taking a step back, even if the news that comes out later is true, it doesn't seem to have a significant impact.

Firstly, Trump previously stated that he would not allow the US to sell Bitcoin, and he's about to take office now.

Secondly, even if they sell, it won't be all at once; like the previous actions of the German and US governments, they sell a little each day, gradually.

Thirdly, institutions are currently scrambling for cheap chips; once they are sold, there will be buyers.

Based on actual market value calculations, the capital entering the market last year was $379 billion, approximately $1 billion per day. The $6.5 billion worth of Bitcoin sold by the US government can be absorbed within a week, so there is no need to panic.