Why Bitcoiners Celebrate the Historic Pardon of Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht
An unconfirmed picture emerged today on X, suggesting that Ross Ulbricht has already been released from prison. Source: @real_vijay
As promised, Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht today, prompting celebrations among Bitcoiners. What's so special about it?
Just hours ago, Trump posted on his Truth Social network that he had signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ulbricht, now almost 41, and called his mother to share the news.
"The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern-day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!" Trump said in a post.
In 2015, after already spending two years in prison, Ulbricht was found guilty of a continuing criminal enterprise, narcotics conspiracy, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, and other charges. Federal prosecutors also alleged, with questionable evidence, that Ulbricht ordered the murder of at least five people who purportedly threatened to reveal information about the Silk Road. Ulbricht was sentenced without the possibility of parole.
However, in the Bitcoin and crypto community, this sentence has been largely considered unjust and an attempt to make an example of Ulbricht to deter others from running darknet marketplaces. Silk Road was among the first places where BTC was accepted.
Prominent Bitcoiner and author Vijay Boyapati explained that Ulbricht "embodied the ethos of early Bitcoin more than anyone."
"He believed in radical freedom, including the freedom to trade anything with anyone else so long as it was peaceful and voluntary," Boyapati said, noting that politicians targeted both Silk Road and Bitcoin as criminal enterprises that needed to be shut down.
"Silk Road sold apparel, art, books, collectibles, computer equipment, electronics, herbs, and yeah—drugs. But according to friends who used it, Silk Road was arguably the safest way drugs were ever sold: no street violence, no shady deals, and zero fentanyl. Everything was tested and peer-reviewed, like an Amazon for substances," another Bitcoin author and developer, Ben Sigman, added, noting that Ross's case "is about government overreach and the state’s power to crush individuals with vague laws."
According to Boyapati, "It was like they were locking up one of our own out of spite for what we all believed was a peaceful revolution."
He also urged everyone to remember that Bitcoin is not only about the "Number Go Up" technology, referring to the strong rally in BTC prices, as "there was a deeper purpose here, and getting rich is a nice side effect of that greater purpose."
Meanwhile, Bitcoiners demonstrated support for Ulbricht, even starting a merch campaign and donating all the proceeds to the freed Silk Road founder. Some even wondered whether the pardon means Ulbricht gets to keep his BTC stash, now worth billions of USD, that was confiscated. However, previous similar precedents show that this is not the case. Others are also discussing whether Ulbricht will launch a memecoin or move into altcoins.
In either case, now everyone also knows how to get pardoned, in case you're arrested:
