On the first day of Trump's presidency, the founder of the Silk Road, who had been imprisoned for 11 years, was released

Author: Jaleel Jia Liu, BlockBeats

No one understands better than Trump how to use political leverage to manipulate public sentiment.

Recently, Trump has found himself under some pressure. To circumvent presidential investment restrictions, on the eve of taking office in "Goose City," the Trump couple directly issued tokens, allowing an entire interest group behind them to achieve "profit without investment" at lightning speed.

There can be many who reap benefits in the crypto space, but the president cannot be one of them. Many former supporters from his cryptocurrency community have publicly opposed his actions. However, there is another voice from those in the crypto circle dissatisfied with Trump's token issuance:

"I cannot forgive Trump for issuing tokens on the eve of taking office unless he releases Ross Ulbricht tomorrow."

This reflects Trump's seasoned political tactics. Faced with pressure from the crypto industry, he immediately called Ross Ulbricht's mother, the woman who has been waiting for her son to come home for ten years, and personally told her:

"I have just signed a full and unconditional pardon for your son Ross." Ross can go home.

This was a promise Trump made during his campaign; he vowed that if re-elected, he would reduce Ross's sentence or even pardon him on his first day in office. Six months have passed since the Bitcoin 2024 conference, and he has already fulfilled most of his promises made at that event: firing the current SEC chairman Gray Gensler, appointing a Bitcoin/cryptocurrency presidential advisory council, reducing Ross's sentence or even pardoning him, and establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the U.S. government.

Every word and action seems to prove and imply, "I will fulfill all my campaign promises, and the next might be the strategic Bitcoin reserve." The strategic Bitcoin reserve is undoubtedly the G-spot of the crypto industry, and in this way, Trump alleviated much of the crypto industry's anger over his token issuance that allowed interest groups to achieve "profit without investment."

For those far removed from the crypto industry, it may be hard to understand why releasing Ross could quell the crypto industry's anger over Trump's token issuance.

To understand this, we must go back to 2011, a year filled with significant events: Osama bin Laden was killed, and Kim Jong-il passed away. But there were also some events that seemed less important at the time, such as Bitcoin, which had just been born two years earlier. Unlike today's price of $100,000, Bitcoin remained at around $0.1 for the first year or two after its inception.

Although Bitcoin now appears to have a genius design, at the time, it was seen as a useless concept. It wasn't until 2010 that Ross heard about Bitcoin from a client, marking a turning point.

Ross Ulbricht

In 2011, Ross founded the "notorious" dark web marketplace "Silk Road." The Silk Road did not trade tea, silk, or porcelain; it became the most well-known and infamous "dark web" site in history. The primary commodities traded on this site were drugs, sex slaves, child pornography, private assassins, arms trading, and identity fraud.

Screenshot of the Silk Road website, source: internet

To ensure anonymity, Ross designed the site to be accessible only through the Tor onion router (not accessible via search engines, only through special software) and exclusively used Bitcoin as the medium of exchange. The government's crackdown on illegal activities primarily focuses on financial regulation—the core of which is the banking system, firmly controlled by the government. Bitcoin emerged as a payment tool that operates outside the banking system—until now, banks and Bitcoin have remained on separate paths.

With the rise of Silk Road, Bitcoin finally found its first application scenario—a payment tool for illicit transactions. Data shows that Silk Road circulated over 9.5 million Bitcoins, accounting for 80% of the total Bitcoin supply at the time.

To real friends in his life, Ross described his work as "creating an economic simulator," aimed at using economic theory to eliminate coercion and aggression between people, allowing individuals to experience what it is like to live in a world without systemic violence.

No one expected that this seemingly sunny and ambitious young man was actually the creator of a major drug empire and the underground evil world. But there are no secrets that cannot be uncovered; several regulatory agencies had already set their sights on him, and even an FBI spy had befriended him for three years.

Ross received an email with a $1 billion acquisition offer from an FBI spy, source: internet

Following the digital trail, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration eventually discovered Ross's identity, and the moment the FBI captured him was quite dramatic.

In October 2013, while Ross was using Wi-Fi at a bookstore, the arrest took place. To prevent Ulbricht from deleting or encrypting files on his laptop, a pair of agents posing as a couple walked by and began to argue loudly next to him.

"Curiosity killed the cat," and distracted, Ross turned to look at them. At that moment, an agent swiftly grabbed his laptop, and two other agents pounced on him to make the arrest. The agents plugged a USB device into the computer and used software to copy critical files; at that time, Ross's computer was logged into the Silk Road administrator account.

On August 21, 2014, Ross was officially charged with money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. On February 4, 2015, he was found guilty on all counts. On May 29, 2015, the court sentenced Ross to two life sentences without the possibility of parole for 40 years.

It can be conclusively stated that Ross is an extremely important figure in the history of Bitcoin's development. Just as Bitcoin was about to be overlooked by the world, he ended the era of Bitcoin as a toy and gave it real-world significance—serving crime.

Just as a fool's consensus is still a consensus, black demand is also demand. Driven by criminal transactions, Bitcoin experienced its first surge, reaching $31 in June 2011. Two months after Ross's arrest, Bitcoin soared to $1,100.

Due to the practice of liberalism, during Ross's 11 years in prison, there has been widespread support for leniency in society, including within the crypto industry. Many people from both parties believe that Ross's sentence is unjust and that he deserves a second chance. Over 250 organizations, public figures, and leaders have expressed support, with more than 600,000 signatures on petitions for Ross's release.

Today, times have changed. As Trump's chances of winning the election soared on Polymarket (a highly accurate blockchain betting platform), most people believed that Ross might be granted a reduced sentence or even a pardon.

It is also evident in the betting topic on PolyMarket regarding "Who will Trump pardon within 100 days of taking office?" that the likelihood of Ross being pardoned is very high. Previously, the probability of Ross's pardon had been steadily rising, reaching 73% for a long time.

Two life sentences plus an additional 40 years is indeed a heavy burden for a young man who was only 26 when he was arrested.

Now, Bitcoin's price is $105,247, and the U.S. has welcomed its first "Bitcoin" president. Ross, who has been in prison for 11 years, is now 41 years old, and as he walks out of prison, he can finally smile easily at the camera.

The first photo of Ross Ulbricht after his pardon is revealed, source: BitcoinMagazine