Charlie Shrem: The Journey of Bitcoin - [Making Markets, EP.51]

My guest today is Charlie Shrem. Charlie was a founding member of the Bitcoin Foundation and BitInstant - one of the earliest Bitcoin exchanges. In this episode, he takes us through his incredible life story-starting with how an Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn got into the wild world of Bitcoin. He then talks about how Bitcoin went from a toy to a real store of value, the wild success of BitInstant, his time in prison, and how he met Justin Trudeau through a robot. The story of Charlie’s adult life is in many ways mirrors the story of Bitcoin, and I hope you enjoy this episode with Charlie Shrem. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE. ----- Making Markets is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Markets, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @makingmkts | @ericgoldenx Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Markets (00:01:51) Charlie's Early Life and Bitcoin Discovery (00:05:23) The Rise of BitInstant and Legal Troubles (00:08:12) Life After Arrest and Bitcoin's Early Community (00:13:59) Bitcoin's Value and Early Transactions (00:18:20) Libertarian Influence and Political Connections (00:24:38) Gavin Andresen and the CIA Meeting (00:25:53) The Birth of the Bitcoin Foundation (00:26:19) Early Bitcoin Community Gathering in Austria (00:27:03) Forming the Bitcoin Foundation (00:28:09) Libertarian Movement and Porkfest (00:29:19) Bitcoin's Early Adoption and Challenges (00:31:06) BitInstant and the Rise of Bitcoin Transactions (00:37:47) Legal Troubles and the Silk Road Connection (00:44:18) Life After Prison and Bitcoin's Evolution (00:47:25) Reflections on Bitcoin's Impact and Future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices