Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road darknet marketplace, has received a complete pardon from President Trump, acknowledging the support he received from Libertarians during his election campaign.
Ross Ulbricht, founder of Silk Road, has been granted a full pardon by President Donald Trump. On January 22, Trump revealed the pardon via a post on Truth Social, his own social media platform, stating that it was “in honor of the Libertarian Movement,” which played a role in his success in the 47th U.S. presidential election.
Trump also took aim at the justice system, labeling those who convicted Ross Ulbricht as “lunatics” and calling his life sentence plus 40 years “absurd.” Ulbricht had been sentenced to life without parole for his involvement in the creation and management of Silk Road.
Founded in 2011, Silk Road was a darknet marketplace that thrived until 2013, earning notoriety as the “eBay for drugs.” It enabled anonymous purchases of illegal items and services, predominantly drugs, using Bitcoin (BTC).
At that time, Bitcoin had not yet gained widespread recognition beyond specialized computer communities, and Silk Road was instrumental in increasing public interest in the cryptocurrency.
In February 2015, Ross Ulbricht was convicted for running Silk Road, receiving a sentence of two life terms in prison for enabling close to $183 million in illegal drug sales.
The FBI dismantled Silk Road in October 2013 after an intricate investigation involving cybercrime specialists and undercover operatives. The investigation primarily focused on identifying Ross Ulbricht, who used the alias “Dread Pirate Roberts.”
Law enforcement traced Ulbricht through his digital footprints, including errors he made in online forums discussing Silk Road and an email address linked to his true identity.
The turning point came when investigators accessed Silk Road’s servers, which provided a wealth of incriminating evidence, such as transaction logs and private messages involving Ulbricht. He was apprehended at a public library in San Francisco while accessing the platform’s backend server.
Although Ulbricht acknowledged his role in establishing Silk Road, he argued that by the time of his apprehension, he had relinquished control of the site and functioned solely as a “fall guy,” assuming the blame after being caught.
