Former BitInstant CEO and noted bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem is set to give a talk at the upcoming American Banker Digital Currencies conference in New York on 29th July.
His discussion, entitled “Bitcoin Pitfalls – And How To Avoid Them”, will focus on Shrem’s colorful history with bitcoin, while putting a special emphasis on the challenges facing innovators.
Shrem’s appearance at the conference in New York is notable considering his exit from Bitcoin in the Beltway late last month. Rumors that he was banned from the Washington, DC conference owing to legal problems were later dismissed by the entrepreneur.
Shrem, who is currently facing federal money laundering charges, has become more active in digital currency circles after being released from house arrest in late May. Prior to the end of his house arrest, Shrem made limited appearances including a visit to the premiere of a bitcoin documentary in New York.
During his talk at the American Banker conference, Shrem plans on sharing his experiences as an early bitcoin entrepreneur trying to find stable banking partners.
He told CoinDesk:
“While running BitInstant, consulting with companies in the space and the Bitcoin Foundation, I went through many hardships on obtaining and maintaining banking relationships. It took me a long time to understand the risks involved for them, and how they would benefit from the relationship.”
Shrem added that, ultimately, he hopes to answer the question of why banks should work with bitcoin.
Role at Payza confirmed
In addition to the announced engagement, it has been confirmed that Shrem is working as a business development consultant for payments startup Payza.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Payza is retaining Shrem for a “limited engagement”, telling the publication that Shrem brings “an exceptional knowledge of the bitcoin market” to the company. The development was first reported in May by newsBTC, though at the time Payza was unable to confirm whether Shrem was serving in an official capacity.
The company previously outlined its stance on digital currencies in a blog post from May. In the post, Payza suggested that bitcoin could be leveraged to afford its customers greater payment flexibility.
Ali Nizameddine, Payza’s executive vice president of product and technology, was quoted at the time as saying:
“We have a distinct vision of how we would like to incorporate Bitcoins into our platform. “The option that is most appealing is to allow our members to purchase Bitcoins with funds in their secure Payza accounts and to allow them to store their Bitcoins in their Payza ewallets or to transfer them to another wallet service.”
For more on Payza’s plans in the bitcoin space, read the company’s full blog post.