Charlie Lee (computer scientist)

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]

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

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. 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. Robert, McMillan (August 30, 2013). "Ex-Googler Gives the World a Better Bitcoin". Wired. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  6. 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. 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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