Charlie Shrem paid a high price for his place in cryptocurrency history. Major figures in the cryptocurrency world were part of his story, and his personal life was transformed when he went from an online retailer to CEO of bitcoin (btc) exchange BitInstant and a convicted felon before he turned 30. years. Today he is an investor and a podcaster.
Coming from a prominent family in Brooklyn's Syrian Orthodox Jewish community, Shrem was on track to become a rabbi from a young age. It wasn't an easy road and Shrem had other ideas for his life. It was a story as old as that of fathers and sons.
“The only way out was through money,” Shrem realized. He found a completely modern outlet for his frustrations. He said on Cointelegraph crypto Stories:
“On the Internet, people did not judge me on any other factor than what I brought to the conversation (…) My opinion was greatly appreciated.”
Shrem was introduced to bitcoin and developed the concept for BitInstant, a company that made it easy to purchase bitcoin at a time when it could only be obtained from Mt. Gox through a slow and complex series of financial transactions.
“bitcoin Jesus” Roger Ver invested in BitInstant. Then another partner, the son of Shrem's dentist, met the Winklevoss twins in Ibiza, and after Shrem explained bitcoin to them, they eventually became investors, too, Shrem. saying. There was a time when 30% of transactions on the bitcoin blockchain were done through BitInstant.
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Shrem's personal life was also developing. He also opened a nightclub which was:
“I think it was the only place in the world at the time where you could actually spend bitcoin in a physical location.”
There he met a woman and asked her out. Although he vomited on her that night, they ended up getting married.
Driving in the golf cart yesterday, @courtmwarner He asked me if we could buy royalty futures on his new favorite artist with some bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bitcoin. Proud husband pic.twitter.com/dMDrE0InO8
—Charlie Shrem (@CharlieShrem) December 4, 2023
Shrem's wife was not a member of the Syrian Jewish community. Opposition to the life he was leading himself met with almost violent opposition from his parents and his community. When Shrem was arrested for facilitating drug-related transactions on Silk Road in 2014, his parents rejoiced. Shrem pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
A year and a change in prison was a transformative experience for Shrem as well. “Prison really taught me the sense of family, real family,” Shrem said. He wasn't thinking about the Winklevoss twins or their parents. The Winklevosses “distanced themselves” from Shrem, and he has not spoken to his parents in more than ten years.
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