President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road darknet marketplace. The pardon, a major campaign promise from Trump to the Bitcoin and libertarian communities, ends Ulbricht's life sentence without parole, issued in 2015 after his conviction for operating an online platform that facilitated illegal drug sales.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross.” He also criticized the prosecutors involved in Ulbricht’s conviction, calling them part of a broader issue of governmental weaponization.

Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 on multiple charges, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise and distributing narcotics through Silk Road, which operated on the dark web between 2011 and 2013. The platform facilitated over 1.5 million transactions worth more than $200 million, according to authorities. Although prosecutors alleged Ulbricht solicited murders-for-hire to protect his operation, there was no evidence that these killings occurred.

The pardon drew widespread attention in the Bitcoin community, where Ulbricht has been a symbolic figure. Many see him as a pioneer in Bitcoin’s early adoption and argue that his punishment was excessive for a nonviolent crime. His supporters have rallied under the slogan "Free Ross," maintaining that his role in creating a decentralized marketplace has been mischaracterized. Pete Rizzo of Bitcoin Magazine described Ulbricht as “the most successful and influential entrepreneur of the early Bitcoin era.”

Ulbricht's supporters have long contested the severity of his sentence. The federal appeals court upheld his life sentence in 2017, acknowledging its severity but deeming it permissible under the law. Ulbricht has been serving his sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, where he continued to advocate for Bitcoin and his release. At a Bitcoin conference in Miami in 2021, his voice was broadcast from prison, saying, “I had so many big dreams for Bitcoin.”

Trump's decision to pardon Ulbricht aligns with his campaign focus on reforming harsh sentences and supporting innovation. The announcement comes amid rising Bitcoin prices, which surged following the news, signaling the market's anticipation of more Bitcoin-friendly policies under Trump’s administration. The pardon also fulfills a promise Trump made at libertarian and Bitcoin conferences, where he courted the support of the Bitcoin community.

With Ulbricht now set for release, the debate over the legacy of Silk Road, the ethics of decentralized platforms, and the balance between punishment and innovation in the digital age will likely intensify. As Ulbricht himself stated in a message following the pardon, “I can finally see the light of freedom at the end of the tunnel.”

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