- President Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht after 11 years in prison, and Ulbricht publicly thanked him.
- Ulbricht received over $270,000 in cryptocurrency donations, including $111,111 from Kraken.
- Approximately 430 BTC worth $47 million linked to Ulbricht remain untouched in wallets.
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht thanks Trump for pardon after 11 years in prison
Ross Ulbricht Thanks Trump
President Donald Trump freed Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, after more than 11 years in prison. Ulbricht was serving a double life sentence without parole. He is the first to thank Trump in public, identifying him as a man of his word.
For the first public statement since he was released from prison, a video of Ulbricht has been captured, speaking on his X post. “Last night, Donald Trump granted me a full pardon,” he said. “I was doing life without parole, and I was locked up for over 11 years. But he let me out. I am a free man now. So let it be known that Donald Trump is a man of his word.”.
Thank you so much, President Trump, for giving me this amazing blessing. I am so, so grateful to have my life back, to have my future back, to have this second chance. This is such an important moment for me and for my whole family.”.
Since his release, supporters have mobilized in many ways to try to help Ulbricht get back into society as easily as possible. The Free_Ross campaign on X states that over $270,000 has been donated in Bitcoin. Some of the biggest donations include: $111,111 from Kraken crypto exchange, 2,400 in Ether (ETH), 900 in Solana (SOL), 200 in Cardano (ADA), and several smaller donations in BNB and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Ulbricht would want to take some time out to spend it with his family and heal his time in the incarceration. “This feels amazing to be free,” he said. “This is a victory for everybody everywhere who loves freedom and who cares about second chances.”.
Unclaimed Bitcoin Holdings Linked to Ulbricht
Other than donations, Coinbase director Conor Grogan asserted that around 430 BTC, worth around $47 million, are sitting in wallets that likely belong to Ulbricht. Those wallets haven’t been accessed since more than 13 years ago, and the authorities did not seize them. Arkham Intelligence confirmed what Grogan found out-he said there are 14 Bitcoin addresses that connect to Silk Road. One of those accounts has over $9 million in BTC.
In 2015, Ulbricht was found guilty of setting up and running the dark net-based marketplace, Silk Road where users buy illegal goods using a virtual currency, bitcoin in total anonymity. Multiple conviction under different charges also meant that he is to be imprisoned for life with accusations of conspiracy against the RICO act and laundering money, some computer hacking frauds proved his guilt as well.
In fact, Ulbricht only tweeted this year for the very first time since more than 11 years of his silence over the Internet. He was obviously ecstatic and has tweeted, “Chances to begin anew.” He also pointed out his admirers and revealed pardon was indeed collective victory.
Digital Privacy and Crypto Regulation
Well, even with his supporters’ wonderful contributions, Ulbricht has yet to recover from his looted money. The BTC he held when he was caught exceeded 144,000. The court had then confiscated close to $184 million worth of the Bitcoin that the United States Marshals Service sold in 2014 when the prices for the BTC were extremely low. Those sales then raised just $48 million, a far cry from today’s price for the BTC. The FBI wallet selling Ulbricht’s crypto now holds nearly $129,000.
On January 23, Kraken donated around $111,111 in BTC for Ulbricht to start living his new life. This really shows that he has a big community supporting him as he gets ready to return into society.
This is the end of the world for Ulbricht. All the debates going on regarding digital privacy, the regulation of cryptocurrency, and justice are all at the limelight.
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