Charlie Shrem Resigns From Bitcoin Foundation After Money Laundering Arrest
Mr. Shrem's Twitter photo.
The Bitcoin magnate who was arrested at JFK earlier this week on charges of money laundering has resigned from his vice chairmanship of the Bitcoin Foundation.
Charlie Shrem, 24, was arrested on charges that he supplied Bitcoins to people purchasing drugs online using the Silk Road. Many speculate that he used his now defunct company, BitInstant, to facilitate the transactions, although statements from the U.S. Attorney's Office did not name the company.
Mr. Shrem was an early adopter of the cryptocurrency, and lived a flashy lifestyle. He's been quoted as saying he wouldn't hire someone he couldn't drink or smoke weed with, and is a part owner of EVR, the New York City bar that accept bitcoins as payment.
The Verge published a statement from Bitcoin Foundation's director, Jon Matonis:
"As a foundation, we need to remain focused on our core mission to standardize, protect, and promote the Bitcoin core protocol. While Charlie has contributed a great deal of personal effort and resources to enhance the adoption of Bitcoin worldwide, a prolonged legal dispute would inevitably detract from advancing that core mission. Therefore, in order to focus on his pending trial, it has been mutually decided that Charlie Shrem resign from the Board of Directors, effective immediately. The Board accepted that resignation today."
No word on how the (nonexistent) Dogecoin Foundation is coping.
