... it is at least as tempting to buy in at the current level than it was at the level during the previous auction, and probably more so.
What do you mean? Do you know the price paid at the last auction? (If not, what are you extrapolating from?)
We don't know the exact price that the lots took in last time, but probably neither drastically above nor below market. Not drastically below, because one guy got them all, not drastically above, because the premium to get them all in one, counter party risk free lot is there, but probably not so large that it warrants, say, doubling market price.
And I'll add: while nobody named their exact bid, iirc two participants went on record that they submitted, in their words, lowball offers, but they still referred to it in the context of current
on-exchange market price. That was seriously an enlightening moment for me: I had always, in the most bearish corner of my mind, suspected that there might be "the market price" that us dumbasses pay, and the "true value of a coin" the big boys are looking at. Turns out, the big boys (and girls) are just staring at market price as defined by on-exchange trading as we do. Small consolation
