Charlie Shrem to auction first issue of Bitcoin Magazine and other rarities

The Bitcoin Foundation co-founder and former CEO of BitInstant is auctioning off artifacts dating back to his guilty plea to charges related to the darknet marketplace.

On Thursday, Shrem's representative announced that 12 lots would be up for auction, including a prison diary he kept from 2014 to 2015, a ring with a BTC logo, and the first issue of Bitcoin Magazine from May 2012. Shrem himself described the items as not just personal items, but as testaments to the early Bitcoin era, noting their historical value to the community.

The first issue of Bitcoin Magazine is up for auction. Source: Scarce City

Shrem was arrested in January 2014 and charged with participating in a scheme to sell more than $1 million in Bitcoin to Silk Road users. After the site was shut down by U.S. authorities in October 2013 and its creator Ross Ulbricht was arrested, Shrem pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison, but was released early in September 2015.

Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for creating Silk Road, was pardoned by President Donald Trump in January. He also used the Scarce City platform to sell items related to his incarceration, earning a total of $1.8 million.

Silk Road's Legacy Continues to Shape Lawsuits

Even years after the darknet site was shut down, legal action against people connected to its activities continues. In July, UK authorities sentenced a former National Crime Agency employee to five years in prison for embezzling 50 BTC confiscated from a Silk Road 2.0 co-founder.

The US government seized more than 50,000 Silk Road-related bitcoins from convicted fraudster James Zhong in 2021. Some of the cryptocurrency was found on a single-board computer hidden in a popcorn can.

Source: cryptonews.net