The ones that refuse to see this for what it is, are pathetic.
He wasn't just operating an exchange, if that's all he was doing he would be just fine.
Shrem was laundering money in the millions for a drug operation via Bitcoin and his exchange.
If you will read the complaint, the evidence is compelling.
This is not an attack on Bitcoin as badly as the fringe few would like to portray it.
The guy got caught red handed and unfortunately represents Bitcoin as a whole.
He needs to go asap.
~BCX~
I fully agree, but as always there will be people like the OP spreading scarry stories. This is democracy - 3 idiots will always scream louder than 1 smart guy.
Lets all remember that he has not been convicted of a crime nor has any evidence has been presented yet. A criminal complaint is not itself evidence, nor is it an attempt to prosecute the case. A criminal complaint is simply a statement by the prosecutor outlining the reasons they believe they have adequate cause to charge someone with a crime.
This represents Bitcoin as a whole because he is one of the few faces of the Bitcoin Foundation. Their charter reads: "Bitcoin Foundation standardizes, protects and promotes the use of Bitcoin cryptographic money for the benefit of users worldwide." not exactly what he is being accused of. This is not exactly improving the reputation of Bitcoin as a whole nor is it helping the public misunderstandings, misinterpretations and misrepresentations.
Unfortunately regardless if he is guilty or not this is a big blow to the face of Bitcoin. We as a community need to have some serious discussions on who is representing us, what those people stand for and what our over all vision is in the future. If we don't I see some stormy weather ahead.
I have to say again that the OP was IMHO trying to spread FUD for some personal agenda but that does not negate the fact that this is a serious hit to our community. Not because the Silk Road is Bitcoin but because having the Vice Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation in a national news story linking him to it leaves egg on all of our faces. It is up to us to clean up this mess and take a good hard look at what we want the world to see us as in a whole.
