As a reminder, Silk Road was a darknet market, i.e. a shop of illegal substances and services, which could only be accessed using special software similar to Tor anonymisation service. Almost everything was sold there: not only heroin, but even fake passports.

In the end, after a lengthy investigation, the Silk Road leader was arrested. You can read more about this fascinating story in a separate article.

Silk Road Marketplace interface

As a result Ross Ulbricht has already spent several years in prison. However, that doesn’t stop him from being involved in the development of the blockchain world.

Who is issuing NFT tokens?

According to Cointelegraph, the auction of the collection will start on the SuperRare platform today and run until 8 December. The unique tokens are attached to hand drawings by Ulbricht. The money raised from the auction will go to the Silk Road creator’s support trust and to the account of Art4Giving, a charity that deals with donations for prisoners.

One of Ross Ulbricht’s drawings

Recall that Ross Ulbricht’s identity has been controversial since 2015, when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for creating the Silk Road platform. The platform itself started back in 2011 and accepted bitcoins as payment for illegal goods. Silk Road was a significant page in the project’s history, making it much more popular globally – though not in the best possible light.

Read also: Criminal organisations and mafia increasingly using cryptocurrencies: analysts report.

Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht

Some people didn’t like Ulbricht’s initiative with issuing his own NFTs. Here’s what Bull Bitcoin portal founder Francis Pouliot had to say about it.

The fact that the insane and immoral NFT pyramid scheme has now become normal is of great concern.


As a reminder, NFT is disliked by many Bitcoin millionaires and people outside of the industry because of the fact that unique tokens are allegedly very harmful to the environment and used for money laundering.

The problem became particularly evident in the first half of November 2021, when Discord chief Jason Citron hinted at introducing cryptocurrency support into his own app. That's when users of the platform began directly blackmailing Citron, threatening to cancel their paid subscriptions. In doing so, they criticised NFT precisely because of its alleged excessive harm to nature. As a result, the platform's representatives had to abandon their original plans - read more about that in a separate article.

However, Ulbricht’s announcement has also found supporters. For example, a crypto-enthusiast under the pseudonym CryptoCobain stated that Ross himself “has done more for Bitcoin than all modern investors,” so he simply deserves recognition.

The man will be imprisoned for the rest of his life and has already done more for Bitcoin than all the members of the eye-laser cult.

As a reminder, eye-lasers are added to their avatars by Bitcoin fans who believe in its potential and continued rise in the rate.

Although Ulbricht essentially founded a darknet marketplace for trading in illicit goods and substances, he did help a lot in popularising BTC. Against this backdrop, many in the cryptocurrency community believe that the punishment for Ross was extremely harsh. As a reminder, Ulbricht received not only a double life sentence, but also 40 years in prison on top. In other words, the chances of Ross being released are virtually nil.

Ross Ulbricht, founder of the darkweb shop Silk Road


We believe that there is nothing wrong with Ross Ulbricht's initiative. Of course, his personality evokes mixed emotions: some think Ross is a human rights activist, while others just see him as a criminal. In any case, there is nothing wrong with NFT-tokens; they are just another important development in the decentralized asset industry. Therefore we do not see much point in being outraged by this initiative. In addition, the proceeds will be used for useful purposes.

What do you think about it? Share your opinion in our Millionaire Crypto Chat. There, we’ll talk about other important topics related to the decentralisation and blockchain industry.