Charlie Shrem, the businessman with fortune in bitcoins accused of helping users of the site Silk Road, where it was possible to buy various types of drug and where transactions were made with the virtual currency, was sentenced to two years in prison in the United States This Monday was announced.
In October last year, the FBI closed the Silk Road, an operation in which were also seized 26,000 bitcoins, the virtual currency that was used in transactions with a value of around EUR 2.4 million.
The site’s founder, a man named Ross William Ulbrich, was arrested and charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, computer fraud and still have contracted the murder of a user of the site, which was threatening to reveal the identity of other users if they do not receive half a million dollars in 72 hours.
Sellers and buyers who used the Silk Road were anonymous. The site was only accessible from a tool called Tor, which allows you to browse anonymously. In addition, communicated through tools that allow the exchange of messages with encryption and made transactions in bitcoins, a non-centralized virtual currency, which functions in an automatic system.
Charlie Shrem was executive chairman of the exchange site of bitcoins BitInstant, which allows the buying and selling of online currency. Through its own business, giving money in bank accounts by users of Silk Road.
Shrem was arrested in January, two months after the closure of the site and the arrest of its founder, on charges conspiracy to sell more than one million dollars (817,000 euros) in bitcoins to users in the Silk Road, police said, Shrem knew would be used in the purchase and sale of illegal drugs.
According to Business Insider, the defendant argued in court that would be more useful in freedom than in prison, ensuring its commitment to educate people about bitcoin. In a tweet posted after knowing the sentence, Shrem wrote that “justice had been served.”
No comments:
Post a Comment