US President Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who has been imprisoned for 12 years for founding the now-defunct darknet marketplace, Silk Road. “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” Trump announced on Jan. 21 via his Truth Social platform. The president described Ulbricht’s sentence of 40 years plus two life terms as “ridiculous.” Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and, in 2015, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the creation and operation of Silk Road. Trump had promised during his presidential campaign to pardon Ulbricht on his first day in office, a pledge that resonated with the crypto community. However, some Bitcoin supporters were frustrated when Trump did not follow through on Jan. 20 and instead pardoned around 1,500 individuals involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Hours before the pardon was announced, U.S. Senator Rand Paul urged Trump to free Ulbricht in a Jan. 21 letter. Paul highlighted that Ulbricht’s punishment was far harsher than that of others, such as Matthew Verran Jones, a top 5% Silk Road drug dealer who received just six years in prison. The crypto community has long advocated for Ulbricht’s release. Some questioned whether Ulbricht’s involvement justified his life sentence, while others praised him as a “Bitcoin legend” for his early contribution to Bitcoin’s adoption. Ulbricht has consistently denied being the sole person responsible for Silk Road. In a 2013 Forbes interview, he stated, “I didn’t start the Silk Road, my predecessor did.” Silk Road, launched in 2011, played a key role in Bitcoin’s rise, marking one of the earliest platforms to use BTC for transactions.
