Bitcoin Exec To Spend Two Years Behind Bars For Silk Road Transactions

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday December 21, 2014 @05:45AM from the end-of-the-road dept.

mrspoonsi writes Charlie Shrem, former Bitcoin Foundation board member and CEO of the now-defunct exchange BitInstant, has been sentenced to two years in prison for helping Silk Road users anonymously swap cash for digital currency. Silk Road, as you know, was the online marketplace infamous for hosting anonymous drug and gun sales that was busted by the FBI back in 2013. A version 2.0 went up shortly after that, but it suffered the same fate as its predecessor this November. Based on evidence gathered during the crackdown, Shrem agreed to partner with Robert M. Faiella to trade over $1 million in cash from buyers. Faiella was the one with direct contact to buyers, hiding behind the name BTCKing to post ads promoting his dollar-to-Bitcoin business on the marketplace.

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Sorry, not corporate enough. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-21 05:56 · Score: 5, Insightful

If he worked for HSBC, he wouldn't even have been charged.
1. Re: Sorry, not corporate enough. by bill_mcgonigle · 2014-12-21 07:30 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  You're probably unaware that the GP specifically used 'HSBC' because they were caught laundering trillions of dollars of drug money and nobody was indicted. It's no crime to be ignorant of such things, but just try not to hold any policy positions on the subject.
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)