Bitcoin Advocate Charlie Shrem Joins Private Equity Platform For Digital Token
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Charlie Shrem, the founder of BitInstant and vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation who served time in jail over alleged money laundering, has joined a new venture called Intellisys Capital which will allow investors to invest in profitable companies by buying a digital token backed by real assets.
According to the company’s website, Shrem is a founder of Intellisys, along with CEO Jason Granger, who has built teams in banking, real estate, construction and private equity.
Shrem’s 2014 Scrape
Police arrested in 2014 on charges of money laundering and acting as an unlicensed money transmitter, CCN.com reported. Shrem was released earlier this year after he spent time in a federal prison camp in Pennsylvania since March 30, 2015, after being convicted on charges of money laundering and acting as an unlicensed money transmitter. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
CCN.com ran an article in 2014 criticizing the case against Shrem.
Shrem is now a founder and CTO of Intellisys, a company that has a portfolio management platform for middle market growth equity investments, according to the website.
New Investment Opportunities
Intellisys, along with investment fund Mainstreet Investment LP, own and manage a fund formed to issue a digital token security backed by real assets. “We intend to provide differentiated opportunities that are not available through traditional investment markets,” the website states.
Mainstreet Investment will have an initial token offering 51 days from November 24, 2016, according to the website. It claims it will be the first asset-backed digital security for a private equity and venture capital investment fund.
Intellisys seeks to ensure regulatory compliance as virtual currencies and blockchain-based businesses evolve into a core role in the global economy.
The investment strategy is as follows: 30% in bitcoin and blockchain companies, 35% in middle market and real estate, 25% in future middle market investment, and 10% in operations.
Also read: BitInstant CEO and Bitcoin Foundation Vice Chairman Charlie Shrem arrested in New York
Goal: To Modernize Private Equity
Intellisys seeks to modernize private equity and offer investors the opportunity to reap returns of strong businesses in the U.S. they currently don’t have access to, amid profit-erasing fees of mutual funds, high-risk equity picks and low-yielding bonds.
In addition to Shrem and Granger, the company has an advisory team that includes Paul Puey, CEO and co-founder of Airtbitz, and advisors Jeremy Lehman, Jared Kenna, Thomas Holzinger, Lisa Cheng and L. Mazzola.
