Man charged after firing gun during Bitcoin beef

As the world was going crazy over bitcoin, whose value neared $20,000 last month after starting 2017 at less than $1,000, three men were discussing a sale of the digital currency in an east side Milwaukee condominium.

Jonathan W. Royce, 28, apparently had some bitcoin to sell to a man identified in court records only as GPK. But the negotiations had slowed or stalled and another man, “Dallas,” argued with Royce to complete the transaction.

At that point, GPK told police, Royce pulled out a gun, pointed it across the room toward GPK and Dallas. GPK turned to run and heard a shot.

According to a criminal complaint charging Royce with second-degree reckless endangerment with a dangerous weapon, the incident occurred Dec. 30 in the 600 block of E. Ogden Ave.

An officer responding to a call about shots fired saw Royce leaning into a Subaru with Montana license plates. The officer found a .32-caliber handgun in the back seat of the car and an empty .32-caliber shell casing outside the car.

Inside the condo, police found a bullet strike on a stove vent behind where GPK had been standing and a deformed bullet on the floor beneath the pipe.

Royce, who has pleaded not guilty, has been ordered to stand trial. Court records show Royce had a prior address in Montana but now lists an apartment in Oak Creek.

Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency that moves like cash through the internet. The digital money trades without the need for third parties such as banks, so transactions are strictly peer-topeer.

Journal Sentinel staff