Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road marketplace issued his first public statement following President Donald Trumpโs full pardon. During his online video message, Ulbricht expressed deep appreciation for Trump and praised him as someone who delivers on his promises.
After his release from decades of imprisonment for illegal activities on the Silk Road marketplace, Ulbricht underscored that freedom matters greatly today.
— Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) January 24, 2025
In the video message posted through his X account, he began by saying that the President of the US issued him a full pardon last night. He was โdoing life without paroleโ and was โlocked up for more than 11 years, โ but Donald Trump granted him his freedom.
He added, โSo let it be known that Donald Trump is a man of his word.โ He expressed his gratitude to him for giving him another opportunity.
Ulbricht considers this opportunity a beginning for himself and also for all who worked to grant him freedom. According to his statement, the pardon represents a triumph of both liberty and opportunities for redemption.
What did Trump gain by pardoning Ulbricht?ย
By pardoning Ross Ulbricht, President Trump gained support from the crypto community and libertarian supporters. Members of cryptocurrency communities, along with Bitcoin originators, have hoped and awaited Ulbrichtโs liberation.
According to a Bloomberg report, Preston Byrne, the managing partner at a law firm said that Ulbrichtโs legal battle engaged the crypto community since Silk Road was the first to demonstrate Bitcoinโs application as โa censorship-resistant transactional system at scale.โย
This way, President Trump showed that he values opinions from both crypto leaders and the โtrue believers.โ Supporters also had constitutional concerns about Ulbrichtโs lengthy sentence for a crime that did not have any violence involved.
In May 2024, Trump proposed at the Libertarian Party convention that if heโs elected, he would reduce Ross Ulbrichtโs sentence on his first day in office. He said that Ulbricht hadย โalready served 11 years. Weโre gonna get him home.โ
Ulbricht observed increasing Bitcoin hype during his imprisonment
During his imprisonment, Ulbricht maintained communication via correspondence, letters, blog posts, and activity on X, with an account overseen by managers. Crypto community support has helped him stay a vocal proponent of Bitcoin.
To crypto supporters, Ulbricht represents Bitcoinโs founding vision, that is an unregulated payment method aligned with cyberlibertarian goals to prevent technological restrictions.
Ulbricht observed the increasing interest in Bitcoin while he was in prison. His writings from 2022 were published in a 2024ย blog post. He wrote, โMuch more is being said about Bitcoin these days than when I was put in prison.โ Through the Silk Road, he thought of โputting Bitcoin to good use and giving people privacy and freedom.โ
He also shared that the reason for his willingness to list drugs on the platform stemmed from the belief that drugs should obtain legal status. โNevermind [sic] that they were outlawed and I was risking everything I held dear,โ Ross wrote.ย
Now that he has returned to his family, Ulbricht wants to concentrate on recovery and readjusting to life beyond prison walls. In his recent statement, he said, โIโm going to be with my family so that we can reunite, be whole again, and heal.โ Although he intends to remain low-key, Ulbricht stated he will return to โtalk again.โ
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