It's amusing to see the url uses "dpr-bitcoins", DPR being the common community abbreviation for Dread Pirate Roberts. I mean, that's what they are, just funny to see the govt refer to him that way.

http://www.usmarshals.gov/assets/2014/dpr-bitcoins/

The "Computer Hardware Bitcoins" term is notable and I wonder to which statute it refers. What actions were taken or crime alleged where it would be important to characterize Bitcoins in this way?

I speculate that Ulbrict needs funds to pay attorneys fees. It may be he stipulated to a portion (or all) of the BTC as his in-exchange for unfreezing the asset and permitting its sale.

> The "Computer Hardware Bitcoins" term is notable and I wonder to which statute it refers.

It doesn't refer to a statute. It is a short form to refer to what is described in long form in the first paragraph of the notice as "THE BITCOINS CONTAINED IN WALLET FILES THAT RESIDED ON CERTAIN COMPUTER HARDWARE BELONGING TO ROSS WILLIAM ULBRICHT". (The same long description, and the explicit linkage of the same short form to that long description, is in the linked Stipulation and Order from the court allowing the sale.)

The stipulation also refers to the reason -- Ulbricht and the Government agreed to the sale to convert the bitcoins into dollars to protect both parties from risk due to volatility; the bitcoins are not being forfeited at this time, the forfeiture action will continue with the proceeds of the sale as the subject property rather than the bitcoins themselves.

That term is parenthesized and quoted on the site, so it must refer to something in particular.

(“COMPUTER HARDWARE BITCOINS”)

EDIT-

They're referred to that way in the stipulation agreement he made to allow them to be sold

(pdf) http://www.usmarshals.gov/assets/2014/dpr-bitcoins/order.pdf

It is clearly in Ross's interests to permit the sale. He's not DPR, remember? So these aren't his bitcoins and he therefore doesn't care what happens to them.

Actually, these bitcoins are ones that Ulbricht claims are his, not the (much larger) set of bitcoins that weren't on his personal hardware which were linked to DPR which he did not claim (and which were the subject of an earlier sale.)

Oh, my bad. Sorry. I thought this was selling off more of the earlier Silk Road stash, not the "personal collection". Should have read more carefully.

How does he claim to have acquired them, or has he not made any statement on that yet?

When anything you say may be used against you, would you make any such public statement before the matter comes up in court?

In the agreement document he explicitly claims ownership, and agrees to the sale since the price may go down before they are returned to him.