CHARLIE Shrem made a fortune from cryptocurrency before losing it all and ending up in prison.
But what is the story behind the BitInstant founder and what’s his net worth?
Who is Charlie Shrem?
Charlie Shrem was born on November 25, 1989, in Brooklyn, New York.
Of Syrian-Jewish heritage, Shrem’s parents were both jewellers and he attended a private, orthodox Jewish high school, Yeshivah Flatbush.
He then went to the City University of New York (CUNY) and graduated with a degree in Economics and Finance.
After landing himself in ten thousand dollars worth of debt, he started looking for a way towards financial independence.
Shrem said: “I got a credit card in the mail the day I turned 18. I had a $6000 credit limit and I was taking people to Vegas.”
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Shrem was a college senior when Bitcoin was invented in 2009, and he started investing very early but lost his stake when his storage service crashed.
Inspired by this, Shrem joined forces with his friend, Gareth Nelson, to launch BitInstant, a service that helped people convert money into Bitcoin.
BitInstant was an instant success and at one point accounted for almost 30 per cent of all Bitcoin transactions.
Shrem’s net worth quickly grew to $500,000, which underestimates how wealthy he was, considering the amount of Bitcoin he owned.
Shrem said: “I was 22, just out of college. I met Courtney. Life was grand. We owned a nightclub in Manhattan that we were living on top of.
“I did the very first transaction for Bitcoin to be accepted in a nightclub,” said Shrem’s wife Courtney.
Shrem described himself as a “Bitcoin purist” and became the vice chair of the Bitcoin Foundation.
But in 2014, Shrem made the headlines when he was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for his indirect involvement in the transmission of $1 million in Bitcoin to the Silk Road black marketplace.
In 2012, Shrem helped Robert Faiella turn more than $1 million in cash into Bitcoin that would then be transferred to Silk Road customers.
Faiella pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in late 2014 and was sentenced to two years in prison.
BitInstant closed in 2013, and Shrem resigned from his position with the Bitcoin Foundation in early 2014.
Shrem pleaded guilty in September 2014 to aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmitting business.
In 2014, he was featured in the documentary film, The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin.
Shrem lost nearly all of his money to legal fees and penalties and was fined nearly $1 million.
“My whole world came crashing down,” he said.
After his release, Shrem made $8 an hour washing dishes but remained a vocal supporter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
In November 2016, Shrem co-launched Intellisys Capital, and became chief technology officer (CTO) but the fund dissolved in March 2017.
In May 2017, Shrem joined cryptocurrency wallet Jaxx as director of business and community development and was then linked with Viberate later in 2017, a blockchain-based startup that aimed to disrupt how musicians without agency representation managed their earnings and concert bookings.
In 2018, Shrem made the headlines again after Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss filed a lawsuit, where they claimed Shrem stole over 30 million dollars in Bitcoin from them.
The Winklevoss twins made their money from a $65 million settlement from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg after they alleged Zuckerberg had stolen their idea while friends at Harvard University.
The twins then invested this money into Bitcoin, becoming the first known Bitcoin billionaires.
Shrem was allegedly the Winklevoss brothers’ crypto advisor, who purchased Bitcoin on their behalf.
The twins alleged they received only a portion of the Bitcoin they were owed and alleged they were shorted of 5,000 Bitcoins.
The case was settled confidentially.
In 2019, Shrem went on to start a podcast called Untold Stories, where he talks about figures in the crypto sphere.
He then went on to create the cryptocurrency-information website Crypto.IQ.
Crypto.IQ gives investors information and market news about the cryptocurrency world and helps them invest in digital assets.
What is Charlie Shrem’s net worth?
Charlie Shrem is estimated to be worth $60million.