tvbcof
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Activity: 4592
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December 20, 2014, 05:53:59 PM |
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Can some please explain why he even paid $1M? If the $1M moved through the BitInstant service, the fee was around 0.26% on that, so $2.6k. Even if Shrem charged 2%, that's only $20k in profits. How on earth can he be required to pay x50 of that *and* get jail time?
If he didn't cooperate with the government and didn't give the silkroader's id's, he deserves this kinda punishment. If something is illegal and you do it then you got busted; you've to pay the price... If Shrem made only $20k from his BitInstant shenanigans he made a lot more elsewhere or is some sort of a trust-fundy or something. $20k doesn't get one half a nightclub and cigars to chomp on while calling the female groupies 'toots' or whatever. (What a child!) He probably made a bundle just stacking Bitcoin. Doesn't mean that it would be appropriate ethically for the govt to snake it, but I think everyone recognizes that he willingly stuck his head into the alligator's mouth. Nobody knows what the govt left him with so it's hard to infer anything one way or another about how cooperative he was. It seems possible at this point that the govt didn't really need his info after all except as a nicety to cross-check other results. Besides, Shrem was not the only guy with good access to info from BitInstant. |
sig spam anywhere and self-moderated threads on the pol&soc board are for losers.
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exoton
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December 20, 2014, 06:00:30 PM |
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Can some please explain why he even paid $1M? If the $1M moved through the BitInstant service, the fee was around 0.26% on that, so $2.6k. Even if Shrem charged 2%, that's only $20k in profits. How on earth can he be required to pay x50 of that *and* get jail time?
If he didn't cooperate with the government and didn't give the silkroader's id's, he deserves this kinda punishment. If something is illegal and you do it then you got busted; you've to pay the price... The government alleged that he made more then he really did. I am not 100% sure on their logic, but it may potentially be that all of his proceeds is "profit" even though he needed to give his customers bitcoin. It is my understanding that the total trade volume was ~$1 million. It is my understanding that he had to pay most of the fine from his own personal funds |
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The Chainmaker
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Activity: 112
Merit: 10
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December 20, 2014, 07:16:10 PM |
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1. He will get out early.
2. While prison sucks, if you are rich, it isn't completely terrible. Yes it sucks, but a year is doable.
3. I don't think he did anything wrong, but he knew very well that what he was doing might land him in jail. He even talks a little about it in "The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin". He knew it was wrong in the eyes of the government even if what he was doing wasn't wrong in our eyes. He rolled the dice. He lost.
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If it can be digitized, it should be decentralized
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juju
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December 20, 2014, 08:04:31 PM |
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This is very sad, not only because Charlie is in Jail, but because it discourages people from wanting to create businesses with Bitcoin.
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gamerholicdotcom
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Activity: 37
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December 20, 2014, 08:30:11 PM |
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This is very sad, not only because Charlie is in Jail, but because it discourages people from wanting to create businesses with Bitcoin.
I thought stuff with btc cant be illegal cuz its not real currency |
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xDan
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December 20, 2014, 08:43:40 PM |
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2 years, could have been worse. He's still rich as fugg, right? They don't even have parole. He is behind bars ALREADY. Sometimes a judge will give you 7 days to put your affairs in order, but most times they take you 5 seconds after the sentence is read. Think about that: Shrem spent last night is a cold small cement cell with a stainless steel toilet next to his head and a large black 'roommate'. He has 90 days to surrender. Still tweeting. |
HODLing for the longest time. Skippin fast right around the moon. On a rocketship straight to mars.
Up, up and away with my beautiful, my beautiful Bitcoin~
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exoton
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December 20, 2014, 09:05:40 PM |
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This is very sad, not only because Charlie is in Jail, but because it discourages people from wanting to create businesses with Bitcoin.
I don't think people will be discouraged from starting a bitcoin related business because of this. It was mentioned previously that Charlie agreed to follow the AML rules and ended up not doing so. I think it is pretty clear that Charlie broke the law....the real question is should the law be in it's place in the first place, and is the punishment (according to the law) an appropriate punishment? |
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TKeenan (OP)
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December 20, 2014, 09:51:11 PM |
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This is very sad, not only because Charlie is in Jail, but because it discourages people from wanting to create businesses with Bitcoin.
I thought stuff with btc cant be illegal cuz its not real currency You got it right. Since it is not 'real', you are allow to use it for murder, drugs, rape, extortion. All those laws are out the door because they only count for 'real' money. Awesome!: a world with no laws, simply because someone declared bitcoin is not 'real'. Good thinking buddy. |
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TKeenan (OP)
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December 20, 2014, 09:53:25 PM |
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2 years, could have been worse. He's still rich as fugg, right? They don't even have parole. He is behind bars ALREADY. Sometimes a judge will give you 7 days to put your affairs in order, but most times they take you 5 seconds after the sentence is read. Think about that: Shrem spent last night is a cold small cement cell with a stainless steel toilet next to his head and a large black 'roommate'. He has 90 days to surrender. Still tweeting. yeah, saw that. Judge gave him a break and let him get his shit together before reporting. I doubt we'll see guys taking it casually when they decide to ignore money laundering laws in the future. Two years in the Fed Pen is not a cakewalk. Felon for life. Not a good place to get for a few bucks. |
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Bit_Happy
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Activity: 2100
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A Great Time to Start Something!
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December 20, 2014, 10:03:38 PM |
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"Rakoff said Shrem, 25, was not "some kid making a one-time mistake," but someone who "excitedly" participated in a novel crime involving bitcoins that contributed to drugs sales."
Bah, back then he was 'just a kid', this is sad to see.
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leopard2
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December 20, 2014, 10:09:05 PM |
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This is nuts. another political prisoner. With the exact same logic, every bank employee, credit card company employee, or anyone working for an institution operating an ATM - in short, everyone exchanging cash for balance, could be put into prison. Because their customers could use the cash or the balance for something illegal. Shrem was not even doing it directly: BTCKing was like an operator of an ATM, and Shrem the armored car company that fills/empties the ATM. Some customers drawing cash from the ATM were breaking the law, and the guy driving the armored car gets fucked. Blatant abuse of power by the government!  |
Truth is the new hatespeech.
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moriartybitcoin
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December 20, 2014, 10:50:48 PM |
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the government is sending a message to bitcoiners; stay out of the game unless you're backed by silicon valley
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exoton
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December 20, 2014, 10:59:52 PM |
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2 years, could have been worse. He's still rich as fugg, right? They don't even have parole. He is behind bars ALREADY. Sometimes a judge will give you 7 days to put your affairs in order, but most times they take you 5 seconds after the sentence is read. Think about that: Shrem spent last night is a cold small cement cell with a stainless steel toilet next to his head and a large black 'roommate'. He has 90 days to surrender. Still tweeting. yeah, saw that. Judge gave him a break and let him get his shit together before reporting. I doubt we'll see guys taking it casually when they decide to ignore money laundering laws in the future. Two years in the Fed Pen is not a cakewalk. Felon for life. Not a good place to get for a few bucks. even though he is a "felon", it is my understanding that he still has a job lined up (or is currently working - not sure which). With few exceptions, companies are not barred from hiring felons and Charlie has a lot of experience managing a business and a lot of experience in bitcoin that he should not have trouble finding work |
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Meuh6879
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December 20, 2014, 11:00:15 PM |
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or ... do bitcoin business in paradise island. well ... like all "wall street bonus"  |
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stevenh512
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December 20, 2014, 11:14:09 PM |
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ross ulbricht should be expecting an even bigger jail sentence then both shrem and btcking...
Under current Federal mandatory minimum sentencing rules, Ross will most likely be serving life in prison as a drug kingpin if he's convicted. Shrem was an idiot for doing anything in the bitcoin illegal drug trafficking world under his real name. Period. End of story.
Corrected that for you. This sentence is due to Shrem's involvement in laundering money for drug dealers, not what "kind" of money he helped them launder. I'm honestly surprised he didn't get more than 2 years since he supposedly knew what he was doing. While I'm personally against the war on drugs and I don't think the government has any business protecting us from our own choices, unfortunately that's the law as it stands now. Two years for him while all those banking exec douchebags who helped facilitate money laundering on an industrial scale got off with fines. Crazy world.
Agreed. If we're going to enforce these idiotic laws that punish victimless "crimes" then someone at HSBC should be in prison right now. There is a difference, though, since a corporation like HSBC can't technically be arrested and it's difficult to find the individuals actually responsible for the money laundering, it makes sense that they were punished with a fine instead. But personally, I think if we're going to enforce drug and money laundering laws, their fine should have been a lot bigger (at least in the hundreds of millions for the almost 1 billion dollars they admitted to laundering) and their banking license should have been suspended or revoked. Especially considering that they laundered money for violent drug cartels who are responsible for thousands of murders. Then again, part of the reason we continue to enforce pointless drug laws and waste taxpayer money putting people in prison for victimless crimes is to protect those murderous cartels who have backroom deals with the DEA to keep themselves in business. Heh ...2 years in the USA he will be out in 6 months on good behavior etc....most he will serve imho is 1 year...the rest
will be like 5 years probation or some such
Maybe if he were serving his time in a state prison, depending on the state. There is no "good behavior" time, probation or parole for Federal prisons. There is a clemency program, but these days that's more for show than anything else. I really like what Luke R. has to say about because it is bitcoin, instead of the dollar, a message has to be sent. It's not like HBSC got anything other than a slap on the wrist fine...twice!
More likely it's because it was an individual who could be easily prosecuted and not a major multinational corporation who can afford to buy politicians, prosecutors and judges. It could also have something to do with the fact that the major multinational corporation was working for a cartel who can afford tanks and fighter jets and has beckroom deals with the DEA to keep itself in business. While I do disagree with the law, as it stands, 2 years is a pretty light sentence for someone in Shrem's position and if he had taken it to trial and been convicted he'd probably be facing a lot more time. |
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solitude
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December 21, 2014, 02:39:27 AM |
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The nose knows.
I watch "Rise and rise of Bitcoin" and listen to Charlie saying "I don't wanna go to jail" for some keks.
Greedy jew got off easy if you ask me.
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Hardly anyone speaks English on this forum.
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botany
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December 21, 2014, 05:27:23 PM |
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This is very sad, not only because Charlie is in Jail, but because it discourages people from wanting to create businesses with Bitcoin.
It should discourage people from creating illegal businesses, not businesses with Bitcoin. |
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fathur01
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December 21, 2014, 05:32:04 PM |
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His jail sentence was so exaggerated.. Nothing for HSBC criminals...
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RocketSingh
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December 21, 2014, 06:43:57 PM |
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I sensed a problem when the court forced him to plead guilty in the hope of decreasing jail term. Does anyone know what evidence have they shown against him ? |
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caga
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www.secondstrade.com - 190% return Binary option
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December 21, 2014, 06:48:31 PM |
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The nose knows.
I watch "Rise and rise of Bitcoin" and listen to Charlie saying "I don't wanna go to jail" for some keks.
Greedy jew got off easy if you ask me.
Still confused. Thats where I heard about him the first time as well, and they said he was under house arrest. Is this jail thing for 2 years, a new thing come up? |
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