3,813 BTC + 2,700 BTC in past auctions is a lot of money, and they are selling it for millions right now, your question is super legit, why are they selling BTC by auction if they could start making some reserves, in which, the worst case scenario is to go up in value and become truly trusted coin and method of payment.

A total of 8683 BTC sold after this auction, which means almost $1 Billion worth of BTC in the next years.