Ross Ulbricht is free: Trump’s promise has been kept

Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road darknet market imprisoned since 2013, is free. The USA President, Donald Trump, with a one-day delay, has kept his promise made during the election campaign and has granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ulbricht. 

Ross Ulbricht is free: the creator of the Silk Road website is released from prison

Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the darknet market Silk Road, is finally out of prison and can enjoy his freedom. 

The family shared their joy and gratitude on the official support site for Ulbricht “Free Ross”, writing the following message:

“ROSS ULBRICHT IS FREE!!! Our immense gratitude to President Trump for giving Ross a second chance and to everyone who has supported us over the years. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!- The Ulbricht family”

This news seems to give new energy to all Bitcoin enthusiasts and the crypto sector, given that Ulbricht had been sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years for creating Silk Road. 

In fact, the darknet market signed by Ulbricht represents for many the true and first important use case of Bitcoin (BTC), demonstrating the revolutionary potential of decentralized and censorship-resistant money. 

Thus, while on one hand Silk Road enabled illicit trade, on the other it highlighted Bitcoin’s ability to enable anonymous peer-to-peer transactions. 

The conviction of Ulbricht, who entered prison in 2013, has over time become the symbol of the excess of power and the clash between the traditional and inflexible system and technological innovation and its horizons. 

From here, its current freedom becomes for its supporters a victory of basic principles such as autonomy, privacy, and the freedom to innovate. 

Ross Ulbricht is free: Trump kept his promise and granted the pardon

The freedom of Ulbricht is the result of the decision of the new President of the USA, Donald Trump, who granted him a full and unconditional pardon. This gesture by Trump also becomes a symbol of a deeper meaning. 

In fact, last May 2024, during his election campaign, Trump had promised to commute the life sentence of the founder of Silk Road.

Specifically, Trump had stated that if he were re-elected, he would arrange to free Ulbricht from his sentence. Here’s what Trump said in his speech:

“If you vote for me, on the first day I will commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence to a reduced sentence. He has already served 11 years, we will bring him home”

Even if with a day’s delay compared to what was announced, Trump definitely kept that promise, granting clemency to Ulbricht on January 21, 2025.  

This gesture also underscores something broader, namely Trump’s commitment to keeping all the promises made in his election campaign, including those that concern the crypto and Bitcoin sector. 

Not only that, Ulbricht’s grace is a significant moment, not only for him but also for what it represents: A possible change in the way innovators and pioneers are treated when they challenge existing norms.

The letter, the petition, the second chance, the victory

It was New Year’s Day 2019 when Ulbricht shared on Jack Dorsey’s Twitter, his explicit request for clemency sent to Trump.

In fact, despite already being in prison, the founder of Silk Road could use the social network, where he would also share the link to the petition with which the signatories have asked for clemency for him. To date, the petition has gathered exactly 607,718 signatures. 

In any case, even at that time, Ulbricht would have wished everyone a 2019 of freedom and second chances, wondering if Trump would grant him one day. Apparently, that day has finally arrived and Ulbricht is free.