Today is Charlie Shrem’s birthday - The Cryptonomist

Today is the thirtieth birthday of the famous and unfortunate Bitcoin (BTC) pioneer, Charlie Shrem. 

In order to understand the importance of his figure in the world of blockchain and bitcoin, it is necessary to revisit the highlights of Shrem’s life, which for years has been trying to support Bitcoin, also through the Bitcoin Foundation.

But first things first. In 2011, as a result of a failed crypto platform, Shrem lost all his bitcoins and, following this event, decided to create BitInstant together with Gareth Nelson.

BitInstant was a platform that made it easy to buy bitcoin. The project had seen its expansion in 2012 thanks to investments made by Roger Ver ($125,000) and the investment group of the Winklevoss brothers ($1.2 million), but then closed in 2013.

Meanwhile, in 2012, Shrem opened the Bitcoin Foundation, holding the position of Deputy Director for 2 years.

But bad luck still follows: in 2014 he was arrested on charges of encouraging money laundering for Silk Road users and he was also accused of operating without a money transfer license. This resulted in a 2-year sentence and a fine of $950,000, as he agreed to the sentence by pleading guilty.

After paying the debt with justice, Shrem did not stop and co-founded a new company, Intellisys Capital. This company was also closed the following year.

Charlie Shrem in Jaxx and his podcast

Subsequently, Shrem joined the team behind the development of the Jaxx wallet, holding the position of director of business and community development, a position he still holds today.

Today Shrem leads a podcast entitled “Untold Stories with Charlie Shrem“, dedicated to the world of crypto and blockchain and whose format includes interviews with various representatives of this sector and beyond.