'Bitcoin Millionaire' Charlie Shrem Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison

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Charlie Shrem, the Bitcoin entrepreneur accused of helping users of drug marketplace The Silk Road move money around the internet, has been sentenced to two years in prison, Engadget reports. 

Shrem was the CEO of Bitcoin exchange BitInstant, which let people buy and sell the cryptocurrency online.

The entrepreneur used his business, BitInstant, to transfer money deposited in bank accounts by customers of The Silk Road, the notorious deep web drug marketplace which has been shut down twice by police. 

Shrem was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in January, accused of conspiring to sell over $1 million bitcoin to Silk Road users, with the police accusing him of being aware that the currency would go on to be used to buy and sell illegal drugs.

In the months while he waited for his case to be dealt with by the courts, Shrem spent time shopping for Nazi paraphernalia and sitting around the house drinking and watching Netflix.

In court, Shrem argued that he was better off outside, helping educate people about Bitcoin:

I screwed up. The Bitcoin community, they're scared and there is no money laundering going on any more. They're terrified. Bitcoin is my baby, it's my whole world and my whole life, it's what I was put on this earth to do. I need to be out there. If your honor grants me that, I can be out there in the world, making sure that people don't do the same stupid things that I did.

But Judge Rakoff didn't buy that claim, instead telling Shrem he needed a "substantial prison sentence." Shrem was sentenced to two years in prison, and he is set to surrender to police in 90 days. In a tweet posted after the sentencing, Shrem seemed content with the ruling, remarking that "justice has been served."