Ross Ulbricht Now.

Ulbricht’s pardon was announced by US President Donald Trump on Truth Social. Here’s a rejoinder on the matter.

I just called Ross William Ulbricht’s mother. I let her know that in honour of her and the Libertarian movement, which has given me such strong support, I was pleased to sign a full and unconditional pardon for her son, Ross.

Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht

The cryptocurrency community’s reaction to the event has been positive. Still, many fans of decentralised assets believe that Ross only created a tool on the free market using digital assets, which were a novelty at the time. Well, he certainly did not deserve a double life sentence and 40 years on top, which made it impossible for the guy to be released early.

Representatives of an online repository and educational resource called Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, whose representatives study the works of the anonymous creator of Bitcoin and also disseminate his ideas, reacted to the event. According to them, without Ulbricht, the modern cryptocurrency industry could have been very different.

Here’s a quote on the matter, as cited by The Block.

Without Ross’ vision for Bitcoin’s ability to create a world of more peaceful commerce, we likely wouldn’t be here today. Welcome home, Ross.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that “Ross is finally free”.

Politicians have also commented on what’s going on. For example, it was made by Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who has previously repeatedly called for Ulbricht to be released from prison because his sentence was too harsh. Here’s his retort.

Ross Ulbricht was released by President Trump through a full pardon. Mr President, thank you for keeping your word to me and others who advocated for Ross’ freedom.

Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht


The Silk Road darknet platform was used to sell drugs, fake documents and other illegal substances and services, using bitcoins as payment.

Ross was arrested by FBI agents in October 2013, and in 2015 he was convicted of criminal organisation, drug distribution, conspiracy to distribute drugs, conspiracy to distribute drugs, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to traffic fake IDs and other charges. We wrote more about Ulbricht's story and the feds' hunt for him in this article.
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Opinion on the situation was also voiced by author Jeffrey Tucker. According to him, Ross himself is not associated with drugs and other crimes.

The reason libertarians welcomed Trump’s statement was because of the injustice and insanity of the sentence. Ross is an intelligent, good-hearted, and wonderful man whose work in the field had nothing to do with an obsession with illegal substances. It was an experiment with market freedom that he undertook because technology allowed such a thing. His goal was simple: to show that free markets work. Nothing more.

Early Bitcoin users appreciate Ross’s merit because he embodied the spirit of radical freedom and entrepreneurship in the early days of cryptocurrencies. That said, as an anonymous BTC community user noted, Ulbricht “allowed people to spend money without middlemen getting in their way.”

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Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht’s fortune

Following Ulbricht’s arrest and the closure of the Silk Road platform, US authorities seized around 174,000 bitcoins from wallets associated with the darknet marketplace. Despite this, Ross still has his own stockpile of coins – and a lot of them.

This was emphasised by Coinbase’s director of product strategy and business operations Conor Grogan. According to the manager, he identified about 430 BTC on wallets associated with Ross Ulbricht himself. These are not related to the aforementioned seized coins and have remained untouched for at least thirteen years.

Grogan shared a screenshot of one address that holds 89.77 BTC equivalent to $9.45 million. The total amount of cryptocurrency in Ulbricht’s possession reaches $47 million.

One of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht’s Bitcoin wallets

Here’s Conor’s comment cited by journalists.

They were probably dust wallets back then [i.e. insignificant amounts of cryptocurrencies – editor’s note], but now it’s all worth $47 million.

Grogan also recommended that Ross check out airdrops. For example, the Silk Road creator received 89.77 BCH worth $39.7 thousand on the aforementioned wallet. The Bitcoin Cash network was a fork of Bitcoin, so all BTC holders on non-custodial wallets received the corresponding amount of BCH.

A wallet on the Bitcoin Cash network that belongs to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht

A Coinbase spokesperson noted that Ross’s personal wallets figured in the litigation. Accordingly, it does not open any secret and does not create an additional danger for Ulbricht, because everyone could find the necessary addresses on the Internet.

47 million in crypto is nice, but can Ross get to it? The answer depends on whether Ulbricht has been able to securely store the private keys to his wallets, and whether something has happened to them since 2013.

Some crypto fans believe that the Silk Road creator has done well. After all, in his time he was an experienced cryptocurrency user who surely cared about the safety of coins.

Plus, some have taken notice of a recent photo of Ulbricht outside the prison, which shows Ross carrying a plant. Fans of decentralisation on Twitter allowed that in this way he could be hinting that he had the right combinations while the value of his cryptocurrency was increasing at the instance of the plant.

Silk Road darknet platform creator Ross Ulbricht outside prison yesterday

However, this is just a theory.


Ross Ulbricht's release could be considered fair at the very least because of the overly harsh sentence for the creator of the darknet marketplace. Some believe the Silk Road case was a shock to a government that was not yet ready for the emergence of independent financial systems. And the double life sentence along with 40 years in prison on top was simply an attempt to scare others who wanted to create a similar thing.

Look for more interesting stuff in our crypto chat room. We look forward to seeing you!

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