Charlie Shrem is moving into the next step of his career.
We’re learning that the twenty-four year old has assumed a business development role at Payza, a London-based online payments platform in a move that hopes to take him past his current legal issues and back into the bitcoin realm.
“I am responsible for overseeing development, integration and incorporation of Bitcoin and Digital Currency into the Payza Global Platform,” Shrem told NEWSBTC on Thursday evening.
If you haven’t already guessed, it would appear Payza is planning to enter the world of digital currency.
“Payza specializes in underbanked countries. I’m really excited to be working with a large team that can help me take Bitcoin to the people who need it the most,” Shrem added.
Payza could not immediately be reached for comment on the addition of Shrem to the team or their plans to enter the digital currency sector.
Shrem is currently under house arrest at the home of his parents in Brooklyn, New York.
He was arrested in January of this year (along with another man) at John F. Kennedy International Airport upon his return from a convention in Amsterdam.
“I didn’t know what was going on. One minute I was getting off my flight, the next I was being arrested,” he told CoinDesk earlier this year. “The way they did it – arresting me at the airport in front of a ton of people – the whole thing was set up to make me look like a criminal.”
Shrem believes that his arrest is the federal government’s attempt to damage bitcoin’s public image.
He is accused of funneling approximately $1 million in connection with the former Silk Road online marketplace (which was shut down last year, with another marketplace sprouting in its place nearly a month later).
Following his arrest, Shrem stepped down from his board position at the Bitcoin Foundation. The website of a venture he co-founded and served as CEO of, BitInstant, went offline shortly after the arrest.
He has pleaded not guilty on the charges against him, and a trial is slated to begin in late September.