First big Bitcoin acquisition: gambling site SatoshiDice bought for $11.5M

In another large milestone for the Bitcoin virtual currency, Bitcoin gambling service SatoshiDice has been acquired for $11.5 million by an unnamed buyer.

CoinDesk reports that SatoshiDice operator Erik Voorhees sold the company recently for 126,315 Bitcoins, which held the value of about $11.47 million when the transaction went through.

SatoshiDice is an online dice game in which you use Bitcoins to gamble. It’s relatively simple: Users send Bitcoins to a specific address, a “lucky number” is picked, and you win if the lucky number is less than the number you chose. The service describes itself as “the most popular Bitcoin betting game in the universe.”

The company or individual who purchased SatoshiDice has not been named yet.

SatoshiDice was listed on MPEX, a Romanian Bitcoin securities exchange, and people had purchased shares of the service using Bitcoin. Voorhees said in a forum post that people who purchased SatoshiDice shares will be rewarded with 0.0035 Bitcoin per share owned, which is a 277 percent premium over the sale price.

According to the MPEX Agreement, MPEX holders are entitled to receive 0.00126315 BTC per share, alongside other private owners. However, for the good of the MPEX holders and for the sake of the general Bitcoin community, which the site always has intended to support and nurture, SatoshiDice has arranged to pay MPEX holders an additional .00223685 BTC per share bringing the total to 0.0035 BTC per share.

This is a 277% premium over the sale price and a roughly 175% premium over the current market price of S.DICE shares on MPEX. It is also roughly equivalent to the average price of S.DICE shares at IPO (though BTC was $12 back then, and over $90 today).