The creator of the infamous darknet market gains freedom after 11 years in prison.
Donald Trump has granted a full presidential pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, after 11 years of detention. The announcement came directly from the President through a post on his Truth Social platform, where he stated that he had personally informed Ulbricht’s mother of the decision, emphasizing that this move acknowledges the Libertarian movement that supported him.
The pardon comes after Ulbricht was serving a sentence of two life terms plus 40 years, a ruling that Trump himself described as “ridiculous.” Arrested in 2013 and convicted in 2015, Ulbricht had been found guilty of creating and managing Silk Road, an online marketplace that used Bitcoin for transactions, many of which involved drugs.
Last May 25, during an address at the National Libertarian Convention held in Washington, D.C., Trump had promised to pardon Ulbricht on his first day in office if reelected. The pardon was preceded by a letter from Senator Rand Paul, who highlighted the disproportionate nature of Ulbricht’s sentence compared to others involved in the Silk Road case, citing as an example Matthew Verran Jones, one of the site’s major drug dealers, who received a six-year prison term.
The Bitcoin community has enthusiastically welcomed the news. Silk Road is considered one of the first cases of large-scale Bitcoin use.
