Charlie Lee
Born
Ivory Coast
EducationBS and MS, computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000
WebsiteCharlie Lee on Twitter

Charlie Lee is a computer scientist, best known as the creator of Litecoin. He serves as the managing director of the Litecoin Foundation.[1][2]

Early life

Lee was born in Ivory Coast, moved to the United States at the age of 13, and graduated from high school in 1995.[3] He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science in 2000.[3]

Lee's brother, Bobby C. Lee, is the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BTC China.[4]

Career

For a decade in the 2000s, Lee worked for Google. His work for the company included writing code for ChromeOS.[5] In 2011, Lee became interested in Bitcoin.[6] In October 2011, he released Litecoin on Bitcointalk.[7] He had written the blockchain technology based on the Bitcoin in his spare time while employed at Google. He released Litecoin to the public after mining only 150 coins.[5] Lee has stated that he did not intend to compete with Bitcoin but meant Litecoin to be used for smaller transactions.[6]

In July 2013, Lee left Google and began working at Coinbase, before the cryptocurrency exchange adopted the coin he had created.[8] Lee held the position of Engineering Director until 2017.[9]

In December 2017, Lee announced on Reddit that he sold almost all of his Litecoin holdings due to a perceived conflict of interest.[10] He had been criticized for his tweets, which had a possible effect on the price of the coin.[11] Lee sold or donated all of his coins except for a few minted in physical form, which he kept as collectibles.[12][13]

Lee is currently working full-time with the Litecoin Foundation on fostering Litecoin adoption.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Williams-Grut, Oscar (April 28, 2018). "The founder of litecoin said selling his entire stake 'feels like it's not the right decision'". Business Insider. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  2. ↑ "About Us". Litecoin Foundation. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Reiff, Nathan (May 7, 2018). "Who Is Charlie Lee, Litecoin Founder?". Investopedia. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hill, Kashmir (November 8, 2013). "From Walmart To Bitcoin: The CEO Behind The Chinese Exchange Sending BTC To New Highs". Forbes. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Robert, McMillan (August 30, 2013). "Ex-Googler Gives the World a Better Bitcoin". Wired. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Shen, Lucinda (December 12, 2017). "What Is Litecoin, and Why Is It Beating Bitcoin This Year?". Fortune. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  7. ↑ Hill, Kashmir (January 13, 2014). "A $100 Worth Of Litecoin A Year Ago Is Worth $30,000 Today". Forbes. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  8. ↑ Robert, McMillan (August 30, 2013). "Ex-Googler Gives the World a Better Bitcoin". Wired. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  9. ↑ McGleenon, Brian (November 24, 2022). "Why is this crypto token rising amid crash and FTX collapse?". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Litecoin price, tweets, and conflict of interest". December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 20, 2017.
  11. ↑ Russell, Jon (December 20, 2017). "Litecoin founder Charlie Lee has sold all of his LTC – TechCrunch". Techcrunch. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  12. ↑ Browne, Ryan (December 20, 2017). "Litecoin founder Charlie Lee says he's sold all his holdings in the cryptocurrency". CNBC. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ Bloomberg (December 20, 2017). "Founder of Bitcoin Rival Litecoin Sells His Cryptocurrency After 7,500% Rally". Fortune. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  14. ↑ Lee, Charlie [@SatoshiLite] (September 20, 2018). "I'm working on Litecoin full-time and focused on Litecoin adoption" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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