On the second day of his second presidential term, US President Donald J. Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to Ross William Ulbricht, a key figure in Bitcoin’s early history and the former operator of the now-defunct Silk Road market. The move ignited a wave of celebration among the community, which has long viewed Ulbricht’s life prison sentences as a symbol of excessive punishment for a nonviolent first-time offender.
“I just called Ross William Ulbricht’s mother to tell her that in honor of her and the libertarian movement, which has supported me so strongly, I had the pleasure of just signing a full and unconditional pardon for her son Ross. The scum who worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in arming “Modern government against me and a life sentence plus 40 years is ridiculous,” Trump said to publish Through social truth.
Ulbricht was serving two life terms plus 40 years on charges related to his role in creating Silk Road, an online marketplace that used bitcoin as its primary means of payment. Supporters say the tough ruling was an attempt to target both Silk Road and Bitcoin during the early days, when regulators and politicians were still grappling with the technology’s disruptive potential.
The pardon fulfills a promise Trump made at the 2024 Bitcoin conference, where he pledged to release Ulbricht if re-elected. Vijay Boyapati, author of “The Bull Case for Bitcoin,” emphasized Ulbricht’s importance to Bitcoin’s early adopters. In a mail On X, Boyapati explained, “Newcomers to Bitcoin may not understand why old-timers care so much about Ross Ulbricht. […] He embodied the spirit of early Bitcoin more than anyone else. He was an entrepreneur who created a thriving market.
He also argues that Ulricht believed in “radical freedom, including the freedom to trade anything with anyone else as long as it is peaceful and voluntary.” He writes regularly about his views on freedom and why he built the first truly successful Bitcoin business – Silk Road. He wanted to create a better world and believed deeply in its principles.
Boyapati added that in the early days, many Bitcoin enthusiasts felt that Ulbricht’s punishment was unfair — “as if they were locking up one of our own to spite what we all thought was a peaceful revolution.” He also reminded newcomers to “never forget that there is a deeper purpose here,” beyond bitcoin’s price gains, pointing to the community’s original ideals of libertarian freedom.
Bitcoin Strategic Reserve
The pardon raises new speculation that Trump may fulfill another campaign pledge: creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). During the 2024 conference, he floated the idea of converting all bitcoins seized by law enforcement into a national stockpile. With Ulbricht’s promise now fulfilled, some in the community expect the SBR initiative to surface next.
At Polymarket, the odds of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) jumped from 28% to 44% following the news. It is worth noting that the odds were higher on Inauguration Day, reaching 59%. However, since President Trump has yet to issue an executive order on cryptocurrencies, the odds have dropped to 28% before Ross Ulbricht is pardoned.
A widely followed cryptocurrency analyst known as the Byzantine General to publish on
David Bailey, CEO of BTC Inc and an influential figure in shifting Trump’s pro-Bitcoin stance as well Hint That there will likely be more cryptocurrency-focused action: “Tonight is about Ross but I’ll share this because I’m getting a lot of questions: I still expect there to be offshore offices dedicated to Bitcoin + crypto in the coming days. I don’t know what they’re saying or when They go down exactly as I expect the president to deliver on the SBR in his first 100 days.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $105,558.
Featured image of X, chart from TradingView.com
