他，是最早一批通过比特币创业的先锋之一，大学还没毕业就创立了自己的公司，22岁就成为了百万富翁，一度登上了福布斯、财富等杂志。但是，就在他25岁的那年，他锒铛入狱，失去了一切，人生跌入谷底。他，叫Charlie Shrem。
He was one of the first pioneers to start a business through Bitcoin, and the university started its own company before graduation, became a millionaire at 22, once in a magazine called Forbes, wealth, and so on. But, in his 25-year-old year, he went to jail, lost everything, and his life fell to the bottom. His name is Charlie Shrem.
从小养成的金钱观
时间退回到Charlie的童年，他出生在纽约布鲁克林的一个东正教社区中，爸爸是珠宝商人、妈妈在家做全职主妇。在这样一个上层中产阶级家庭中长大的Charlie，可以说是从小生活富足、衣食无忧。但是，他的爸爸却始终在金钱观上对他严格要求，要他明白每一分钱的价值。
Time goes back to Charlie's childhood, born in an Orthodox community in Brooklyn, New York, where his father is a jewel dealer and mother is a full-time housewife. Charlie, who grew up in an upper middle-class family like this, can be said to be rich and well fed from a small life. But his father always asked him, in monetary terms, to understand the value of every penny.
每周，他们只会给Charlie 20美金的零花钱。要是花光了，就要自己想办法挣钱。当时，Charlie正在上高中，也正巧赶上了计算机、网络兴起的时候。Charlie就发现，很多人家里电脑、打印机、路由器坏了之后，完全不知道怎么修理。而Charlie恰好就精通这些，于是他开始在社区里做起了上门维修的小生意，一小时收费20美元。
Every week, they only give Charlie 20 dollars in pocket money. If he spends it all, he has to make his own money. At the time, Charlie was in high school, just in time for the computer, the network. Charlie found that many people had no idea how to fix it after their computers, printers, and routers were broken. Charlie was good at it, and he started doing small business in the community, at $20 an hour.
慢慢的，Charlie的客户多了起来，平均每周，他都能挣个100美元。对于当时只有15、16岁的Charlie来说，这已经不算少了。他自己存钱卖了第一辆车，完全没有用父母的一分钱。在18岁的当天，他就收到了人生中的第一张信用卡。这，还不是最重要的。这张卡的额度，有6000美元。
And slowly, Charlie's clients got a lot more, and he earns an average of $100 a week. That's not so much for Charlie, who was only 15 or 16 years old. He saved his first car and sold it without a penny from his parents. On the day he was 18, he received the first credit card in his life. That's not the most important one. That's $6,000.
这对于一个18岁的孩子来说，可是一个不小的诱惑。Charlie开始到处挥霍，请朋友吃饭、给朋友买东西、自己去学了开飞机……不到一个月，就把卡刷透支了，还欠下了1万美元的债。而他的父母，却一直被蒙在鼓里。直到账单邮寄在家里，才东窗事发。
It's not a big temptation for an 18-year-old child. Charlie started to spend a lot of time, asking friends to eat, buying things for friends, learning to fly a plane... Within a month, the card was brushed over and a debt of $10,000 was owed. His parents, however, were kept in the dark. It didn't happen until the bill was mailed to their families.
虽然家境殷实，但是Charlie的父亲并没有替他还钱。而是关了信用卡，帮助Charlie拿到了最最低利率的贷款，坚持让他自己想办法每个月还债。Charlie用了两年的时间，才还清了债务。这样的经历，也让Charlie怕极了信用卡、怕极了欠债的感觉。很长一段时间，他都没有再申请信用卡，只用现金、借记卡、比特币买东西。现在，他有了一张信用卡，但是他还是刻意把额度定的很低，只有3000美元。
Charlie's father did not pay for his money, despite the fact that his family was in good hands. Instead, he closed his credit card and helped Charlie get the lowest interest rate and insisted that he manage to pay his debt every month. It took Charlie two years to pay off his debt. It also made Charlie afraid of credit cards and of debt. For a long time, he didn't apply for credit cards and bought things with cash, debit cards, and bitcoin. Now, he has a credit card, but he deliberately set them very low, at only $3,000.
第一次创业
这次还债的经历，给Charlie带来的，也不全是坏事儿。为了更快的还清欠下的信用卡债，他开始创业了。 It's not all bad for Charlie to pay off this debt. He started to start a business to pay off his credit card debt more quickly. 有一天，他的表哥过来吃饭，问他说：“你是不是特别擅长电脑什么的？我们仓库里面有好多不要的旧相机，你要不要弄个网站，把它们都卖出去？挣的钱都归你。” 说做就做，Charlie抱着电脑到了仓库，就建了一个名为dailycheckout.com的网站。他把这些相机以5刀的价格出售，其中成本1刀，运费2刀，净赚2刀。很快，这个电商生意就走上了正轨。慢慢的，开始有别的仓库联系到他，希望Charlie帮他们卖东西。这种完全不用自己承担风险的生意，让Charlie每周都能有600美元的收入。凭借着这第一桶金，他还清了债务，实现了经济独立。 One day, his cousin came over for dinner and said, "Are you special about computers or something? We've got a lot of old cameras in the warehouse. Do you want to get a website and sell them out?" Charlie took the computer and went to the warehouse and built a website called Dailycheckout. He sold the cameras at a price of five dollars, with a cost of one cut, a freight charge of two dollars and a net profit of two dollars. Soon, the electric business was on the right track. Slowly, he started contacting another warehouse, hoping Charlie would help them sell their stuff. This business, which was completely free of risk, allowed Charlie to earn $600 a week. With this first barrel of gold, he also cleared his debt and achieved economic independence. 但是，这并不是他想要的全部。他先要的，是真正的独立。因为父母都是虔诚的东正教徒，所以Charlie的人生，从小就是被规划好的：去哪上学，毕业后子承父业，父母会给他买好房、安排好婚姻……不可否认，这是个不错的生活，甚至是很多人梦寐以求的。但是，这偏偏都不是Charlie想要的。但是，离开父母就意味着背离他们的信仰。一旦离开了东正教社区，就没有回头路了。但是，Charlie为了梦想做了这个艰难的决定－他被驱逐了。父母为他举行了类似葬礼的仪式。他没有去他的妹妹的婚礼、他的父母也不会参加他的婚礼、再也没有给过他一分钱……Charlie入狱之后，他们也只来看过他一次。 But that's not all he wanted. He wanted it first. Because parents were religious orthodox, Charlie's life was planned from an early age: where to go to school, and after graduation, his son took his father's career, and his parents bought him a house and arranged a marriage. Undeniably, it was a good life, even a lot of people dreamed of it. But it was not what Charlie wanted. But leaving parents meant turning away from their faith. 拥抱比特币大家庭 离开了自己长大的家、长大的社区，Charlie找到了另外一个家、一个社区－比特币。以前的东正教社区是非常封闭的、以种族为中心的。他们会觉得自己是最好的，其他人都低一等。这也是Charlie决定离开的一个原因。 When Charlie left his own home and community, he found another home, a community, a Bitcoin. The former Orthodox community was very closed and ethnically focused. They felt that they were the best and that everyone else was inferior. That was one of the reasons Charlie decided to leave. 而比特币社区却是完全不同的，最初的虽然没有很多人，但可以说是“人人平等”的典范，而他们的共同目标，就是给现有金融系统带来革新。就是在那个时候Charlie建立了公司BitInstant，可以让人们很方便的买卖比特币。 The Bitcoin community, however, was completely different: initially, although not many, it was a model of “equalness for all,” and their common goal was to bring innovation to the existing financial system. At that time, Charlie established a company, BitInstantant, which made it easier for people to buy and sell bitcoins. BitInstant给Charlie带来了巨大的成功，当时百分之30到35的比特币交易，都是在这个平台上进行的。当时年仅22岁的他，银行里就存了50万美元，除了运营公司，他还经营着一家夜店，自己就住在夜店楼上的公寓里。那段日子，就像是生活在梦里，Charlie觉得自己就是世界之王。很快，Charlie发现，一个用户在Biltnstant上买了比特币之后，会倒卖到丝绸之路“Silk Road”上。要知道，这个网站是暗网中的网络购物平台，只接受比特币支付。它因给枪支、毒品、洗钱等非法生意提供了躲避监管的渠道，而臭名昭著。 BitInstant made a great success for Charlie, who at that time had between 30 and 35% of the Bitcoin deal on this platform. He was 22 years old, and he kept $500,000 in the bank, operating a nightclub and living in his own apartment upstairs. It was like living in a dream that Charlie thought he was the king of the world. Very soon, Charlie found out that a user who bought bitcoin on Biltnstant would sell it on the Silk Road “Silk Road.” You know, the website was a Internet shopping platform in the dark, and was paid only by bitcoins. It was notorious for providing a way to avoid regulation for illegal businesses such as guns, drugs, money-laundering, etc. Charlie当然知道这是违法的，于是他写了一封邮件给这个客户。邮件里大致写了，我知道你在倒卖比特币到丝绸之路上，你最好赶紧停下来。然而，这封邮件成了导火索，因为相当于Charlie承认了自己平台为不法分子提供了便利，而且他自己也是知情的。同时，他的律师也三番五次警告他，要尽快关停公司。然而，年轻气盛的Charlie不以为然，直到律师威胁他说，如果你再不关了BitInstant，我们就不能在提供任何法律服务了。 Charlie, of course, knew that it was illegal, so he wrote an e-mail to this client. It was written in broad terms that you know that you'd better stop at selling bitcoin back to the Silk Road. However, the e-mail became a trigger, because it was equivalent to Charlie acknowledging that his platform facilitated the outlaws and that he himself knew it. His lawyer also warned him five times to shut down the company as soon as possible. However, young Charlie did not think it until the lawyer threatened that if you did not turn BitInstant off, we would not be able to provide any legal services. 2013年7月3日，Charlie宣布关停BitInstant。但是，该来的还是来了。2014年1月，Charlie在阿姆特斯丹做了次演讲，从那里回来之后，他就在纽约JFK机场被捕了。逮捕他的理由，是“洗钱，以及无照经营货币转账业务”。 On 3 July 2013, Charlie announced the closure of BitInstant. However, it was time to come. In January 2014, Charlie gave a speech in Amsterdam, from which he was arrested at JFK airport in New York. The reason for his arrest was “money-laundering and unlicensed money-transfer operations”. 监狱中的日子 在监狱里服刑的时候，可以说是与世隔绝的的。Charlie说，你必须忘记外面的世界，因为这里没有网络、没有交流。虽然入狱时间只有一年，但是他在Lewisburg联邦监狱有了自己习惯的生活，一日三餐、读书锻炼。那一年中间，Charlie告诉所有人，不要告诉他比特币的价格是怎样的。那一年中间，Charlie读了137本书。 While serving a prison sentence, it can be said to be isolated from the rest of the world. Charlie said that you had to forget about the outside world because there was no network or communication. Although he was in prison for only one year, he had his own habit of living in the Lewisburg federal prison, eating three meals a day and studying. In the middle of the year, Charlie told everyone not to tell him what the price of Bitcoin was. In the middle of the year, Charlie read 137 books. Charlie回忆说，因为他常常在读书，所以深夜也总是把牢房里的灯开着。有一天，一个彪形大汉“狱友”，走到他的牢房说：“听着Charlie，我们大家都要睡觉了，你的灯太亮了！” Charlie说自己吓的浑身颤抖，以为要被打了。然而，出乎意料的是，大汉递过来一盏台灯，说：“你可以先用我的，等你买了自己的，再还给我。” Charlie recalled that because he used to read, he kept the lights on in his cell at night. One day, a big, big, big guy, he went to his cell and said, "Listen, Charlie, we're all going to sleep, and your lights are too lit!" Charlie said he was shaking and thought he was gonna get hit. Unsurprisingly, however, he handed me a lamp, and he said, "You can use mine, and when you buy yourself, you can give it back to me." Charlie说，在监狱里有很多的人，他们只是犯了错误，但是他们都是好人。电视剧里，我们看到服刑的人总是说，自己是清白的。但是其实，牢里每个人都知道，自己是有罪的。Charlie自己也承认，自己是有罪的。但是他知道，自己要向前看。 Charlie said that there were a lot of people in prison who made mistakes, but they were good people. In TV shows, we saw people who were serving sentences saying that they were innocent. In fact, everyone in prison knew that they were guilty. Charlie himself admitted that he was guilty. But he knew he had to look ahead. 出狱的那一天 回忆起刚出狱的那天，Charlie说，那是很疯狂的一天。因为在监狱中的每一天，都是在为这一天做准备；因为这一天，你就要重新回到高墙以外的世界中。当天他就像往常一样醒来，狱警过来拿走了他的东西、带他去办出狱的手续。然后，他就和当天要出狱的人们一起，在一个大房间里等着家人朋友来接他。 Remembering the day he left prison, Charlie said it was a crazy day, because every day in prison was preparing for it; because on that day you were going back to the world outside the walls. The day he woke up, as usual, and the guards came and took his things and took him out of prison procedures. Then, together with the people who were about to leave prison that day, he waited in a large room for his family and friends to pick him up. 可以说，那是他人生中经历的，最忐忑不安的等待。“女朋友是不是迟到了、是不是卡在高速公路上了、是不是出了别的事儿……” Charlie一度觉得，完了，自己出不去了、政府又要逮捕他了。甚至当他抱着自己的衣物，走出监狱高墙、坐上朋友的车的时候，Charlie还是觉得一切都是不真实的。他记得自己对朋友说，“赶快开车，不然他们变卦了！” It can be said that that's what he's going through in his life, and that's what he's waiting for. "Was his girlfriend late, stuck on the freeway, or is something wrong?" Charlie once thought, "It's over, he can't get out, and the government's going to arrest him again. Even when he's holding his clothes, walking out of prison walls, riding in a friend's car, Charlie still thinks it's not true. He remembers saying to his friends, "Driving, or they're going to change their mind!" 这听来像是笑话，但真的是直到车开走的的那一刻，Charlie才长舒了一口气。 It sounded like a joke, but it was only the moment the car drove away that Charlie was relieved. 出狱后的前两个月，Charlie没有开电脑，没有开手机。他知道有成千上万的邮件等着他回复，但是他还没有准备好告诉大家，自己回来了。在六个月中，他过着监督释放的简单生活，早上起床、喝咖啡、然后去餐馆做洗盘子的工作。从一个百万富翁，到每小时只挣8刀的洗碗工，巨大的落差，磨掉了Charlie曾经的锋芒。他说，服刑和这段经历，都让他变得更谦恭、更懂得责任的重要性。 Two months after his release, Charlie had no computer and no cell phone. He knew that there were thousands of emails waiting for him to answer, but he was not ready to tell everyone that he was coming back. In six months, he had a simple life of supervising his release, getting up in the morning, drinking coffee, and then going to the restaurant to do dishes. From a millionaire to a dishwasher who earned only 8 bucks an hour, a huge fall had wiped out Charlie's old edge. He said that serving his sentence and that experience had made him more humble and aware of the importance of responsibility. 比特币老将的幸福生活 the happy life of old General Bitcoin > /strang > 2017年9月，Charlie和Courtney Warner结婚。他们早在2013年就相识，Courtney陪伴他走过了最不可一世的巅峰期和最潦倒不堪的低潮期。曾经是模特兼演员的Courtney，自己也炒币，还会跑到基于区块链的社交媒体平台Steemit发帖子。 Charlie and Courtney Warner were married in September 2017. They knew each other as early as 2013, and Courtney accompanied him through the most indispensible peaks and the worst low tides. 同年，Charlie成立了一家关于比特币投资的公司。当然，他没有放弃炒币。而挣来的钱，他放到了房地产生意中。他说，他如今的收入，33％ 来自法定货币, 33％来自比特币, 33％是房产。所以就算哪天比特币跌到了零，他和他的家人，也不会沦落到睡大街。今年，Charlie27岁，他的人生还在比特币的世界里，精彩的继续着。 In the same year, Charlie founded a company for Bitcoin investments. Of course, he did not give up on the coins. And the money he earned, he put in the real estate business. He said that he earned 33 per cent of his income today, 33 per cent from the legal currency, 33 per cent from bitcoin, and 33 per cent from real estate. So even if Bitcoin fell to zero, he and his family wouldn't fall into the street. This year, Charlie 27 years old, his life is still in Bitcoin, and it's going on.
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