US President Donald Trump has given a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road who has been in prison for 12 years.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright 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 said in a Jan. 21 post to his Truth Social platform.
The president added that Ulbricht’s sentence of 40 years plus two life sentences was “ridiculous.”
Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 without the possibility of parole for his role in the operation and creation of the Silk Road.
Freeing Ulbricht was one of Trump’s many promises to the crypto community during his presidential campaign who had pledged to pardon the Silk Road founder on his first day in office if reelected.
Several Bitcoiners had earlier expressed frustration with Trump for not following through on his promise to pardon Ulbricht on Jan. 20 — who instead pardoned around 1,500 people charged, convicted, or sentenced over the US Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
US Senator Rand Paul had also called on Trump to pardon Ulbricht in a Jan. 21 letter just hours before the president announced the pardon.
Paul noted that Ulbricht — whose online black marketplace used Bitcoin (BTC) for payments — received a far harsher sentence than many users, such as Matthew Verran Jones, who ranked in the top 5% of drug dealers on the site and received six years in jail.
Some reports previously suggested that Trump was sympathetic to the Free Ross campaign and considered clemency for the Silk Road founder in 2020.
Why did Bitcoin supporters advocate for Ulbricht’s release?
The crypto community has long called for Ulbricht’s release for various reasons.
Some questioned Ulbricht’s key role in the Silk Road, arguing that he didn’t deserve to die in prison for contributing to a marketplace where users could freely exchange goods, both legal and illegal.
Others called him a “Bitcoin legend” due to his early contribution to the Bitcoin market.
While Ulbricht did not deny his involvement in Silk Road operations, he repeatedly contested allegations that he was the sole person in charge or the original creator of the platform.
“I didn’t start the Silk Road, my predecessor did. From what I understand, it was an original idea to combine Bitcoin and Tor to create an anonymous market. Everything was in place, he just put the pieces together,” Ulbricht said in a Forbes interview in 2013.
Ulbricht’s sacrifice to Bitcoin adoption
Some Bitcoiners supported Ulbricht’s release for his role in the adoption of Bitcoin. Silk Road was one of the first peer-to-peer exchanges accepting BTC, though for illicit purposes.
Ulbricht is believed to have launched Silk Road in 2011 and helped bring Bitcoin to prominence during its early days. That year, Bitcoin experienced its first rally, reaching a then-record price of $32 in June.
“I owe everything to Ross Ulbricht. Crypto changed my life. Crypto became big because of him. He made the ultimate sacrifice. We all benefitted from his work,” the Bitcoin project programmer Amir Taaki said on X.
Related: Crypto observers still hopeful on Trump despite silence on first day
Bitcoin-friendly billionaire investor Tim Draper supported Ulbricht’s release in 2019, arguing that the US needs entrepreneurs like him.
Ulbricht’s views on freedom resonated with Bitcoin’s principles, further cementing his place as a polarizing figure in the crypto community.
During his time in prison, Ulbricht has regularly posted about Bitcoin and crypto on X. On Jan. 19, Ulbricht took to X to warn the community against a fake memecoin bearing his name.
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