12 relics from the dawn of cryptocurrency go under the hammer

🏛️ Bitcoin Foundation co-founder Charlie Shrem has put up for auction his personal relics of crypto history.

One of the most famous bitcoin evangelists and co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, Charlie Shrem, has decided to part with part of his personal collection of artifacts related to the early days of cryptocurrency. On the auction platform Scarce City, he listed 12 items, each of which, in his words, “preserves the spirit of bitcoin’s first years.”

Cointelegraph reports this, citing his representative.

Among them:

• the first issue of Bitcoin Magazine from May 2012 (numbered and signed by Shrem himself),
• his famous silver bitcoin ring, with which he symbolically “initiated” many newcomers to the community,
  
  
  
• his personal prison diary written during incarceration,
• the boarding pass following his arrest,
• as well as other memorabilia connected with his turbulent biography.

Who is Charlie Shrem

Shrem was one of the pioneers of the bitcoin movement. As early as 2011, he began investing in the first cryptocurrency, and soon after, together with partners, he founded the BitInstant platform, which at its peak processed up to 30% of all bitcoin transactions. Thanks to this project, Shrem gained the status of one of the key popularizers of bitcoin in the US.

However, his career was far from cloudless. In 2014, he was sentenced to two years in prison for facilitating unlicensed transfers in the case of the infamous darknet marketplace Silk Road. He served his term and was released in July 2016. Despite this, Shrem did not leave the industry: he took part in several crypto projects, including the early development of Dash, one of the most famous altcoins.

Shrem’s Quote

Commenting on the auction, he noted:
“These items are not just mine. They are the scars and sparks of bitcoin’s early days, when we lit its first fire. My prison diary, my first silver ring with which I supplied thousands of people with the ‘orange pill,’ my boarding pass after the arrest, the first issue of Bitcoin Magazine. These are not just objects but proof that freedom and bitcoin are everlasting. We must preserve them now so that you can carry the burden and memory of those days.”

Why it matters

These artifacts are not only Shrem’s personal memories but also part of bitcoin’s early history, which many consider the digital equivalent of the first printed dollars or gold bars from old bank vaults. For collectors and cryptocurrency enthusiasts, such items may become a true “sacred relic.”

When the auction starts

The auction will kick off on the evening of September 16, 2025. According to experts, some lots may fetch sums exceeding tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, given the historical significance of the items up for sale.

📦 Context

It is worth recalling that in January 2025, US President Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who had spent 12 years in prison.

This event once again drew attention to the era of early bitcoin, when the cryptocurrency was closely associated with the darknet, anarchist ideas, and the struggle for financial freedom.