Bitcoin Foundation co-founder and former BitInstant CEO Charlie Shrem is putting up for auction several personal items tied to his time in prison and Bitcoin’s early days.
According to a statement on Thursday, Shrem will list 12 pieces on the Scarce City marketplace, including a prison journal from 2014–2015, a Bitcoin-themed ring, and the very first issue of Bitcoin Magazine published in May 2012.
“These aren’t just my belongings, they carry the scars and sparks of Bitcoin’s earliest days and its first fire.”
Charlie Shrem
Shrem was arrested in January 2014 on charges of “engaging in a scheme to sell over $1 million in Bitcoins” to users of the darknet marketplace Silk Road.
The U.S. government had already shut down Silk Road in October 2013 after the arrest of its founder, Ross Ulbricht. Shrem later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison, though he was granted early release in September 2015.
Even years after Silk Road’s closure, people connected to its illicit funds continue to face legal consequences. In July, for example, UK authorities sentenced a former National Crime Agency officer to more than five years in prison for stealing 50 BTC that had been seized from a co-founder of Silk Road 2.0, the site’s successor.
