Martin Shkreli, Detested Pharma Bro, Managed to Buy Crypto in Prison

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Martin Shkreli, known fondly as “The most hated businessman in the United States” bought cryptocurrency while incarcerated.

American entrepreneur Martin Shkreli, known for speculating on the cost of drugs, announced an investment in cryptocurrency after he freed himself of jail.

Shkreli took to Twitter to sing the praises of Ethereum. He was previously banned from the platform. But now, as an apparently reformed man, is back on the microblogging site. Shkreli joked that “Getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison.”

Martin Shkreli is Fangirling Uniswap

Uniswap is really cool,” said the former pharma bro – who is now, apparently, a crypto bro. He said he started to use the platform in the slammer. Who knew you could trade crypto in prison? 

Vitalik Buterin tweeted what seemed to be a response, saying, “How do we create a culture where it’s harder to set (or become) the topic of public conversation by doing something terrible and easier to do so by doing something great?”

Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus was quick to respond. Usually, he is whingeing about how cryptocurrencies are mostly scams.  “Platforms must find a way to incentivize higher-level thinking and behavior instead.”

Matt Huang, the co-founder of hedge fund Paradigm, also had a problem with the pharma bro’s vibe, according to his Twitter page.

Exactly how Shkreli gained access to the internet in prison is unclear. Earlier, Shkreli was released from prison ahead of schedule.

Hero to Some

The entrepreneur, also known as “the most hated man in the US,” rose to prominence when his firm, Turing Pharmaceuticals, jacked up the price of its HIV/AIDS drug by 5,000%.

Shkreli was later sent to a maximum-security prison for seven years in 2018 for defrauding investors.

He is also required to return $64.6 million in profits he received from the increase in the price of medicines. At the same time, Shkreli was banned from engaging in pharmaceutical activities.

However, some people think he got a hard deal. The debate on Twitter rages on.

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Feature pic Photo credit: Shkreli testifying before Congress in 2016

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Nicole Buckler

Nicole Buckler has been working as an editor and journalist for over 25 years, writing from Sydney, Melbourne, Taipei, London, and Dublin. She now writes from the crazy-amazing Gold Coast in Australia. Nicole first bought Bitcoin in 2013 not really understanding what she was doing. She is an accidental HoDLer.

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