Paris (AFP)

What if the French state took advantage of the surge in cryptocurrencies to fill its coffers?

More than 600 bitcoins, worth more than $ 30 million at current prices, are auctioned off Wednesday in a court case, a first in France.

More accustomed to wielding the hammer for sales of cars or works of art, French auction houses benefit from a 2015 law on intangible movable property allowing them to sell cryptocurrency.

Mandated last fall by the Agency for the management and recovery of seized and confiscated assets (Agrasc) following a case in the hands of the "cyber" department of the Paris prosecutor's office, it is the auction house Kapandji Morhange which must hold this first sale Wednesday, organized for the most part online.

"We did well to take our time" in the preparation of the event, welcomes its auctioneer Ghislaine Kapandji to AFP: at the start of preparations last September, the price of a bitcoin was around $ 10,000 ... a far cry from the historic peak reached over the weekend of over $ 60,000, giving the sale of these 611 bitcoins a whole new dimension.

Even though it is often accused of being a speculative asset or of being used by criminal networks, the most famous of virtual currencies has experienced a historic boom in recent months.

It has also been dubbed by iconic companies, such as the automaker Tesla, which bought it for $ 1.5 billion, or the largest fund manager in the world, Blackrock, which has now said it is ready to invest in it.

If this is the first auction of this type in France, others have already been organized for several years abroad.

- 1,600 registered -

The auctions are organized from 9:00 a.m. and will start around 60% of the bitcoin price observed on Wednesday morning.

Almost 1,600 people, many more than for most traditional sales, have registered to participate - mostly French residents, but also Belgian and British residents.

The auctions are divided into two parts: 437 lots of 0.11 to 2 bitcoins in the morning, then 42 lots of 5 to 20 bitcoins in the afternoon.

In particular, registrants were asked for a deposit of 10,000 euros for the most expensive lots, as well as several documents attesting to their identity and residence.

"We are not on the usual amounts", explains Ghislaine Kapandji about the precautions taken.

In the event of definitive confiscation of bitcoins at the end of the current court case, the proceeds of the sale, excluding auction house commissions, must go to the budget of the French State, to potential victims or to organizations. charitable.

In the event of release on the other hand, the proceeds of the sale will be returned to the accused, recently specified in Figaro Nicolas Bessone, the general manager of Agrasc.

In the meantime, the funds from the sale will be sequestered at the Caisse des Dépôts.

Asked about the current justice case by AFP, the Paris prosecutor declined to comment for the time being.

On the buyers' side, the transfer of bitcoins will go directly from a secure account to the cryptocurrency wallets of each of the future owners.

As with the other auctions, the legal transfer will be made at the end of the day.

© 2021 AFP