Charlie Shrem
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Charles Shrem IV (born November 25, 1989)Max Raskin
“Meet the Bitcoin Millionaires,”
''
Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'', April 10, 2013.
is an American
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...
and
bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...
advocate. He co-founded the now-defunct startup company BitInstant, and is a founding member of the
Bitcoin Foundation The Bitcoin Foundation is an American organization that was formerly a nonprofit corporation. It was founded in September 2012 in an effort to restore the reputation of Bitcoin after several scandals, and to try to promote its development and up ...
. In 2014 he was sentenced to two years in prison for aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money-transmitting business related to the
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
marketplace. He was released from prison in 2016. In 2017, he joined Jaxx and served as its chief operating officer, and founded cryptocurrency advisory CryptoIQ.


Early life and education

Shrem was born and raised in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
to a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family. He is an alum of
Yeshivah of Flatbush The Yeshivah of Flatbush is a Modern Orthodox private Jewish day school located in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. It educates students from age 2 to age 18 and includes an early childhood center, an elementary school and a secondary sc ...
,Michael Kaminer
“Bitcoin’s Jewish Whiz Kid,”
''
The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...
'', February 23, 2014.
and graduated from
Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...
in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance.Robin Sidel
“Hard Times for a Bitcoin Evangelist,”
''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', February 5, 2014.
He is of Syrian-Jewish descent.


Career


Early ventures (2009-10)

While in high school, Shrem started Epiphany Design and Production, a company that fixed printers and computers.Eric Markowitz
“My Night Out With Bitcoin Millionaire and Proud Stoner Charlie Shrem,”
Vocativ Vocativ is an American media and technology company founded in 2013 by Mati Kochavi. Vocativ uses proprietary data-mining technology to explore the deep web in order to discover stories and generate original content. In 2017, the company announc ...
, December 5, 2013.
In 2009, while attending Brooklyn College, Shrem launched the start-up Daily Checkout, a daily deal website that sold refurbished used goods. The company was acquired by BlueSwitch in 2012.


BitInstant and Bitcoin Foundation (2011-15)

As a college senior in 2011, Shrem started investing in
bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...
. Soon after, the bitcoin service Shrem was using crashed, and he lost his bitcoins. Shrem and Gwen Nelson, a friend he met online, had similar frustrations with the length of time it took to buy and sell bitcoin on exchange sites. They started BitInstant, a more user-friendly company that charged a fee for users to purchase and make purchases with bitcoins at over 700,000 locations, providing temporary credit to speed up transactions.Adrianne Jeffries and Russell Brandom
“The coin prince: inside Bitcoin’s first big money-laundering scandal,”
''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'', February 4, 2014.
Initially a side project, BitInstant soon needed to grow, at which point Shrem received a $10,000 loan from his mother. Shortly thereafter, BitInstant received $125,000 from
angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...
Roger Ver Roger Keith Ver (born 27 January 1979) is an early investor in Bitcoin, Bitcoin-related startups and an early promoter of Bitcoin. Ver has sometimes been referred to as "Bitcoin Jesus". He now primarily promotes Bitcoin Cash as Ver sees it as fu ...
, and, in the fall of 2012, $1.5 million from a group of investors led by
Winklevoss Capital Management Winklevoss Capital is a family office founded in 2012 by Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Howard Winklevoss. The firm invests across multiple asset classes including seed funding and infrastructure to early-stage startups. The company is headquar ...
. By 2013, BitInstant was processing approximately 30% of all bitcoin transactions. BitInstant operated from September 2011 until July 2013. Shrem has described himself as a bitcoin purist, who believes in bitcoin as a technology that will help the world by allowing citizens to protect their money without banks and other traditional financial institutions. He is a founding board member of the
Bitcoin Foundation The Bitcoin Foundation is an American organization that was formerly a nonprofit corporation. It was founded in September 2012 in an effort to restore the reputation of Bitcoin after several scandals, and to try to promote its development and up ...
, founded in 2012 with a mission to standardize and promote bitcoin. He was formerly vice chairman, resigning after his January 26, 2014 arrest. After his release from house arrest in May 2014, Shrem spoke at bitcoin industry events, worked as a business development consultant for payments startup Payza, and advised two Brooklyn
Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...
hotels on preparations to accept bitcoin for payment. He is a co-owner of Manhattan bar EVR, which opened in 2013 and, in April of that year, became the first bar in New York to accept bitcoin as a form of payment.


Recent ventures (2016-present)

On November 22, 2016, Shrem announced a new venture, Intellisys Capital. He served as chief technology officer, alongside co-founder and CEO Jason Granger.Brady Dale
"Bitcoin Pioneer Launches First Venture Since Prison,"
''The New York Observer'', November 23, 2016.
The startup's fund, Mainstreet Investment LP, planned to offer
cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
tokens issued on the
ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (Abbreviation: ETH; sign: Ξ) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capita ...
blockchain A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a ...
representing shares in a portfolio of companies involved in manufacturing, real estate and sanitary waste. Owners of the tokens would own a piece of the companies in the portfolio. The fund would be 30% owned by token holders, with the remaining 70% owned by Intellisys Capital.Jordan Pearson
"Bitcoin's First Felon Wants to Use Ethereum to Buy Up Michigan's Waste Industry,"
''
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'', January 5, 2017.
The proposed fund was dissolved in March 2017. In May 2017, Shrem joined Jaxx as its director of business and community development, later serving as chief operating officer. The multi-platform blockchain
cryptocurrency wallet A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, program or a service which stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. In addition to this basic function of storing the keys, a cryptocurrency wallet more often a ...
developed by Decentral enables users to control their digital assets. In 2017, Shrem became involved in the cryptocurrency
Dash The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
, proposing the creation of a debit card that could be loaded with Dash coins, which would be converted into the local currency for the cardholder to make purchases.Brian Patrick Eha
"Can Bitcoin’s First Felon Help Make Cryptocurrency a Trillion-Dollar Market?"
''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'', June 26, 2017.
Shrem is the founder of CryptoIQ, an advisory business aiming to bring cryptocurrencies into the mainstream. In November 2018 Shrem announced a partnership with Internet operating system
Friend Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept of ...
as an advisor.


Legal issues

On January 26, 2014, on returning from an e-commerce convention, Shrem was arrested at
JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
. Prosecutors alleged that Shrem and Robert Faiella conspired to launder $1 million worth of bitcoins to help users of the
Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
marketplace anonymously make illegal purchases. Shrem was also charged with failing to report suspicious banking activity and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business.Andy Greenberg
“Arrested Bitcoin Mogul Charlie Shrem Defiant In First Public Appearance Since Criminal Charges”
''Forbes'', March 5, 2014.
He was released on $1 million bail on January 28, 2014, on the condition that he submit to electronic monitoring and live with his parents in their
Marine Park, Brooklyn Marine Park is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood lies between Flatlands and Mill Basin to the east, and Gerritsen Beach, Midwood, and Sheepshead Bay to the south and west. It is mostly squared off in ar ...
home. Shrem was
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...
on April 10, 2014 on accusations of "operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, money laundering conspiracy and willfully failing to file suspicious activity reports with banking authorities." On September 4, 2014, he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aiding and abetting unlicensed money transmission. On December 19, 2014, he was convicted of the reduced charge, ordered to forfeit $950,000, and sentenced to two years in prison. He surrendered to authorities on March 30, 2015, and subsequently entered Lewisburg Federal Prison Camp in Pennsylvania. He was released from prison around June 2016. In September 2018, the Winklevoss twins sued Shrem for $32 million, claiming that he stole thousands of bitcoins from them in 2012. Part of his assets were frozen as a result of the case. An affidavit filed in the case suggested that the $950,000 restitution required in his 2014 conviction had not been paid. In 2019, a judge overturned an order freezing $32 million of Shrem's assets, ordering the Winklevoss twins to pay Shrem's legal fees, and the case was dismissed.


Media appearances

Shrem is featured in ''
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin The ''Rise and Rise of Bitcoin'' is a 2014 American Documentary film, documentary film directed by Nicholas Mross. The film interviews multiple companies and people that have played important roles in the history expansion of Bitcoin. It first pre ...
'', a documentary directed by Nicholas Mross that explores the origins and development of bitcoin, and premiered at the 2014
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
.Robin Sidel
“Bitcoin Evangelist Is Bound but Not Out,”
''The Wall Street Journal'', June 30, 2014.
He is also featured in the 2016 documentary ''Banking on Bitcoin'', directed by Christopher Cannucciari. He was featured on a 2017 episode of
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's ''
Planet Money ''Planet Money'' is an American podcast and blog produced by NPR. Using "creative and entertaining" dialogue and narrative, ''Planet Money'' claims to be "The Economy Explained." History The podcast was created by Alex Blumberg and Adam Davids ...
'' podcast, called "Blockchain Gang". He has been written about in the 2015 book ''Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money'' by
Nathaniel Popper Nathaniel Popper is a journalist for ''The New York Times'' covering finance and technology from San Francisco. He previously worked for the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The'' ''Forward'', '' Let’s Go Travel Guides'' and ''The Boston Globe''. He studi ...
, which covers the rise of bitcoin; in the 2017 book ''How Money Got Free: Bitcoin and the Fight for the Future of Finance'' by Brian Patrick Eha, about the impact of digital currency; and in the 2019 book ''Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption'' by
Ben Mezrich Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author. Early life and education Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland Schoo ...
, which covers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss' investments in Bitcoin (including BitInstant).


Personal life

In 2017, Shrem and his wife Courtney Shrem moved to
Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...
.


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shrem, Charlie 1989 births Living people Brooklyn College alumni People from Brooklyn American Sephardic Jews American people of Syrian-Jewish descent Criminals from New York City People associated with Bitcoin People from Sarasota, Florida American money launderers