Bitcoin Pioneer: I Was Paid 100 Bitcoin An Hour When It Was $10 | Ep. 443 with Charlie Shrem and Courtney Shrem "Prince of Bitcoin"
Founder's Story
Charlie Shrem, known as the 'Prince of Bitcoin,' recounts his wild journey from being paid 100 Bitcoin an hour when it was worth $10 to beco
Key takeaways
- Early involvement in Bitcoin brought immense wealth but also intense scrutiny and downfall.
- True friendship was revealed not during success, but during Charlie's imprisonment.
Main topics
- Charlie Shrem's early Bitcoin success
- Arrest and imprisonment
Notable quotes
"I was one of the people that Satoshi left Bitcoin to when he disappeared."
"He threw up on me after the third or fourth bar… and I was still there cleaning up. That's when I knew this could only go up from here."
Conclusion
Charlie and Courtney's story is a testament to the transformative power of love,
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:00) There was a front cover page of Bloomberg where I was like throwing money in the air and was like Bitcoin millionaires. The moment I got arrested. We got Speaker 1 (0:07) surrounded at JFK airport. Courtney, when you met Charlie, you know you were dating chaos. I Speaker 2 (0:14) honestly didn't know what I got myself into. Speaker 4 (0:17) Charlie Shrem got paid 100 Bitcoin an hour when Bitcoin was $10 and Courtney made history's first Bitcoin transaction. Then... The DEA surrounded them at JFK. I Speaker 2 (0:31) actually did the very first Bitcoin transaction to be accepted in a nightclub in New York City. Did Speaker 4 (0:35) Bitcoin make Charlie a better man or nearly destroy him? Speaker 2 (0:39) Nearly destroyed him and then it made him a better man. Speaker 3 (0:42) Satoshi left Bitcoin too when he disappeared. I was one of the people that... Speaker 2 (0:54) So Speaker 4 (0:55) it's great to be with both of you again. How long has it been? Speaker 2 (0:59) Oh my gosh. When was Speaker 4 (1:02) the last time that we saw each other in person? So Speaker 2 (1:04) you had us on a panel in LA, I think was the first time. And that was... Speaker 4 (1:09) No, Speaker 1 (1:10) I think it's 2021. I think that was like a film festival in Cannes. Speaker 4 (1:15) Yeah, that was the first time. That was Speaker 1 (1:16) the first time. Speaker 4 (1:16) Yeah, that was the first Speaker 1 (1:17) time. Every Speaker 3 (1:17) year, over and over again in Cannes. But you guys ran an event here in LA a couple of months ago, I think. It was around AI or something. Maybe a year ago, half a year ago. I don't remember. I think it's 2022. I have some pictures. Oh, wow. As Speaker 2 (1:31) you get Speaker 3 (1:32) older, time goes on. You know how it is. Speaker 2 (1:35) Time just flies. Speaker 4 (1:36) Time is crazy. I don't even understand. Sometimes I look back and I'm like, wait a minute. Am I 21? Oh, no, I'm 42. Speaker 2 (1:46) Is this the real? Yeah. Is this really happening? Is this the matrix? Are we really here? Speaker 4 (1:50) I don't even know. Sometimes I wonder, but it is great to great to see you guys again. The interesting thing is there was a vice documentary that came out after we all met. So I have to ask you this. Were you a genius, lucky or just early? Speaker 3 (2:09) I was having a conversation with a friend today about something like this. And I think it's really about... uh luck and then not being afraid to go after the craziest opportunities that you see possible and then just finding yourself in a very uncomfortable moment where you're constantly waiting for something like really good to happen and or you know like you're putting everything on the line your your business and starting companies it's like high stakes poker so getting involved in the early days of bitcoin um and becoming the bitcoin prince i mean you're right there was a front cover page of bloomberg where I was like throwing money in the air and was like Bitcoin millionaires. And, you know, I was sitting there thinking that everyone was my best friend and had the first Bitcoin exchange, founder of Bitcoin Foundation. I was one of the people that Bitcoin left, Satoshi left Bitcoin to like when he disappeared. But, you know, when I got arrested and the whole story came crashing down, the only person that was left taking care of me was this one over here. So, I mean, it's crazy how you think you're on top. And then you very quickly can go down to the bottom. And it's a beautiful way to live life, especially at a young age, because you get both extremes. And it's like, even in moments like when you're waiting, you know, that you're dealing with or whatever in normal life, you've always dealt with something really much worse. Speaker 1 (3:33) Yeah. Which led to my next question, Courtney. When you met Charlie, did you know you were dating chaos? Speaker 2 (3:42) I Speaker 1 (3:43) honestly didn't know what I got Speaker 2 (3:44) myself Speaker 1 (3:45) into. No. As soon as I met him, I knew that I was in love with him. Speaker 2 (3:49) He just had a certain different energy that no one has ever had before that I met. And like, we just hit it off as friends very quickly. And you would start to visit me at EBR and request the same table and for three months. And then we were set up on a blind date and everyone, they're like. I was working at EBR at the time as a waitress and I was getting ready to leave for the night. And his best friend, my boss at the time that owned EBR, was like, we're all going out for drinks and Charlie may or may not be there. And I was like, OK, cool. You know, no one admitted that we liked each other yet. And we were supposed to all go to the same establishment. So we all went and Charlie and I were the only ones there. Everyone else. Speaker 3 (4:34) Yeah, everyone else. No one else shows up. It was a setup. No Speaker 2 (4:38) one was going Speaker 3 (4:38) to Speaker 2 (4:38) make the move. And Speaker 3 (4:39) so we ended up having a great night that night. I did throw up on her after like the third or fourth bar. And then when I went downstairs and came back from the bathroom, she was still there cleaning up, you know, explaining the situation. I'm so sorry. I love that first throw up. She's as my back no matter what. Like we just met. And I was like, this only can go up Speaker 4 (4:57) from here. Speaker 3 (4:57) Sorry, Speaker 2 (4:58) he's so nervous. And Speaker 3 (4:59) Courtney is a really, really smart person. And she comes to all of a lot of my business meetings and the craziest things sometimes because she's a great judge of character and knows like she, Courtney gives a great perspective of the situation that we're in a lot of the times. So like even, so even today. Some members on my board will be like, let's get Courtney's perspective on the situation or something like that. Like if we have a business dinner, they will literally point out and say, is Courtney going to be there? It's like because it's a part of the shtick in these work relationships. People like it when you're bringing them into your friendship or your family. You Speaker 4 (5:45) think there's a women's intuition? 100%. Speaker 4 (5:49) I could get scammed and I'd be shocked. She's like, no, I knew that was a scammer. I would be listening over Speaker 1 (5:54) the phone. I said, don't do a deal with that. It's bad. And I'm 99.9%. I save him a lot of grief and money. Same situation. I've Speaker 3 (6:04) lost a lot of money not listening to Courtney and her mom a couple of years ago on like a certain business relationship. And they told me like outset and like every step of the way. Speaker 2 (6:14) I Speaker 3 (6:14) have fights Speaker 2 (6:15) about it. I have fights about it Speaker 3 (6:16) all the time. And I was like, no, no, like. It's going to work out. And I was so wrong. And I never again. Like Speaker 4 (6:23) you said, life's all about learning lessons. You guys told us this story when we first met you about how much Bitcoin you were getting paid and how much Bitcoin you were spending. It was like, I wrote down here, 100 Bitcoin an hour. And I might be wrong on that. 400 or 100 Bitcoin an hour. Do you ever think back to that time? Speaker 3 (6:42) You're absolutely not wrong. Remember the champagne? Speaker 2 (6:46) Yeah. Speaker 4 (6:48) What is the champagne showers with Bitcoin? I want to know. How do you stop at that? Speaker 2 (6:52) So EBR was the, I don't know for anyone that knows our story of how Charlie and I met. besides being set up on a blind date. But I actually did the very first Bitcoin transaction to be accepted in a nightclub in New York City. And then that's how we met. What Speaker 4 (7:06) year was Speaker 3 (7:07) that? That was 2013. What Speaker 4 (7:08) is EVR? Speaker 3 (7:09) What does it stand for? Speaker 2 (7:10) It Speaker 4 (7:11) was a Speaker 3 (7:11) nightclub. It was for two years from 2012 to 2014. It was one of the top nightclubs in New York City, like lying around the corner. And it was built by a couple of friends. Yeah, right beside the refinery. And it was the only bar, it was the first bar in the world to accept Bitcoin. And so you asked about like hundreds of Bitcoin an hour, you had people that would come in and they would spend like thousands of Bitcoin and buy, one guy would, he's crazy, he would take a cart of champagne bottles because you know champagne at nightclubs is expensive. Speaker 1 (7:41) So $1,500 a bottle plus Speaker 3 (7:44) the Speaker 2 (7:45) price Speaker 3 (7:45) of Bitcoin is $10. 150 Bitcoin for a bottle of champagne. It's $1,000. And we had a Bitcoin transaction system. And like, I can still log in and see those old transactions and you'll see them. It's like, I Speaker 4 (7:58) first heard about Bitcoin back in 2017. And honestly, it's one of my biggest regrets. I never started buying slowly over time. You don't have to time anything. You just have to be consistent. And if you're buying regularly, the small details matter more than people realize. Fees spread. where your money actually goes. 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Speaker 3 (9:12) Thousands and thousands of Bitcoin a night just from people buying alcohol and food with Bitcoin, but it became for two years it was the top place like an assembly place for everyone who wanted to like do something Bitcoin in the real world. So all the top CEOs of the companies we orange Speaker 2 (9:28) filled. We Speaker 3 (9:28) were Speaker 2 (9:28) in Speaker 3 (9:28) the hot spot Speaker 2 (9:28) for Bitcoin at the time. Did Speaker 3 (9:31) parties there and that's also where we met. So Courtney was doing this. Courtney was the one doing the transactions like she was trained on. They Speaker 2 (9:37) gave me a QR code and an iPad. And they're like, go off. And I thought it was just an Speaker 1 (9:42) alternative payment system. And then it's a lot bigger. Knowing what you know now, you guys are such a pioneer. But like, can you imagine you did the very first transaction? How does that feel? Can you even? It's Speaker 2 (9:55) so surreal. Like, I still think about it. I'm just like, gosh, look at where her life is. I know. It became a real movement. Ups and downs. Speaker 2 (10:05) But everything's been worth it. It's Speaker 3 (10:07) crazy. We're Speaker 2 (10:08) just so proud of ourselves because we've come so far. You're absolutely right. Madly in love with each other and everything else is good. Is Speaker 4 (10:17) it weird to think or interesting, maybe interesting is a good word, that Bitcoin became a culture? Then that obviously then crypto, like so much has happened since 2012, 2014. It's not even... is that not even 20 years it went from nobody really even knows what this is to basically worthless to changing the entire world not just the bitcoin just the community and just everything around crypto fascinates me Speaker 2 (10:47) yeah you're Speaker 3 (10:48) absolutely right and Speaker 2 (10:49) it was a social experiment before i really was money yeah Speaker 3 (10:54) it was like a friendship got Speaker 2 (10:55) into it even before doing the transactions you know so it For me, I went to the very first Bitcoin conference in 2013. Speaker 3 (11:03) Oh, my God. You were the only woman there, probably. And I was, like, Speaker 2 (11:05) one of four because everyone else was a reporter. I could Speaker 4 (11:09) guess who the people were there. Yeah, it Speaker 3 (11:11) was, like, all geeks and misfits, but so was I. Geek squad. In Geeks and Misfits, like, we figure out ways to become... Carrie Ann Speaker 2 (11:19) Boring. I think she was, like, one of... Yeah, she was a reporter. Speaker 3 (11:22) Actually became, like, a head of a top crypto lobby. But it's, like, so all these... A lot of the CEOs of these... the big exchanges today like Kraken and Coinbase and all these companies were started off as just like nerds in at the Bitcoin conference that Courtney was at. And we only took up like a quarter of the room, right? I was like dancing in the corner. It was a crazy situation. But Speaker 2 (11:43) what I liked it too, and this is like what fascinated me about it is because I didn't really know too much about it because like falling into it and then learning as you go. And it's just, it's really interesting because like I said, Because it's a social experiment, it was like there was no judgment. It was so innovative. Like the energy when you go into that room, it was beautiful. Everyone was just like, Speaker 3 (12:07) the Speaker 2 (12:07) world is amazing. We can Speaker 1 (12:08) do Speaker 2 (12:09) anything, you know. And it wasn't dangerous. It wasn't because there was no stigmatism on it. No Speaker 3 (12:15) one was paying attention to us. There was no attention. You couldn't get Bitcoin in a media article. There was nothing. It was like emptiness. We were our own thing. And it was really beautiful. I just tweeted a picture the other day that I miss the good old days of the early Bitcoin meetups. Like there was people walking in off the street post Great Recession. People were all about it was a community of financial sovereignty. Everyone involved in early Bitcoin days. These are people you would say that everyone involved in early days of Bitcoin came with like a massive chip on their shoulder and Everyone was like wildly self-sufficient in their own way. Look at Courtney like she left town One-way train ticket moved to New York City to follow a career of acting when we met Wildly self-sufficient person like on her own doesn't need anyone to help her out. I was leaving I left my family. So I had been cut off from my whole community and family, friend. So I was also struggling. And all the early Bitcoiners also were these very types of people. And the banks, they never wanted to work with us. So we had to be very innovative. We had to fly around the world. We had to make relationships. We had to build new plumbing. All the Bitcoin financial infrastructure, the community, the conferences, ourselves as investors, everything, the media, we all did it. We did it. We self-sufficiently did it. And it was very important. Like we didn't have any help from the outside world for a long time. It was only until later did they pay attention to us. Speaker 1 (13:41) Well, can you take me back? You guys putting that very first Bitcoin conference. Speaker 3 (13:47) Oh my gosh. Speaker 1 (13:48) What's the thought process there? Like I know you wanted to create this community, but like, can you tell me the why aside from what you mentioned? Speaker 3 (13:58) It's a funny question because. It's the only motivation for me when I was starting the Bitcoin Foundation. Everyone had the Bitcoin Foundation was let's get anyone who has some semblance of like organizational structure or reputation in the community that they're in. And let's get everyone together and let's form like an association, like a trade group. And I was like, I just want to do a conference because I really enjoyed hanging out with people on the Internet, but I wanted us to all get together in person. have a reason to Courtney and I to fly out to California and we Speaker 2 (14:33) have friends all over the world too which is so beautiful we would never have met you if you know we weren't in the community and it's just it's crazy what was that Speaker 3 (14:40) first conference like what are we uh Speaker 2 (14:41) wild no it was just like I said it was just really positive and people were just in a good mood we were selling t-shirts they had um a lot of paintings this