Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht Hopes for Freedom After Donald Trump’s Re-election

Silk Highway founder Ross Ulbricht is cautiously optimistic about his doable launch after a decade-long incarceration.

The notorious darknet market stays well-known for facilitating thousands and thousands of unlawful Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.

Ross Ulbricht Look ahead to doable freedom for Bitcoin-supported crimes

Ulbricht, who has been serving a double life sentence with out parole since 2015, expressed his gratitude to those that supported Donald Trump’s presidential bid. In a publish shared on X (previously Twitter), he mentioned he hoped the previous president would make good on his promise to commute his sentence after taking on the Oval Workplace.

“I’m extraordinarily grateful to everybody who voted for President Trump on my behalf. I belief that he’ll maintain his promise and provides me a second likelihood. After greater than eleven years in darkness, I can lastly see the sunshine of freedom on the finish of the tunnel,” Ulbricht wrote.

This message from Ulbricht discovered broad resonance, with supporters rallying behind his trigger. They’re urgent Trump to meet what he promised in marketing campaign speeches this 12 months.

On reflection, Trump’s feedback about Ulbricht’s potential clemency got here through the Libertarian Nationwide Conference in March. As a presidential candidate, Trump then promised that if re-elected, he would “commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence.” The pledge got here as a part of his dedication to prison justice reform.

His pledge was largely seen as an try to attraction to libertarian voters, a bunch that has constantly known as for Ulbricht’s launch. Remarkably, Trump additionally reiterated this dedication through the Bitcoin 2024 convention in Nashville. Consultant Thomas Massie, a staunch supporter of Ulbricht’s trigger, strengthened this sentiment.

‘Cling in there, Rose. President Donald Trump himself informed me he would. It is one of many causes I supported him,” Massie famous.

Ulbricht’s case is controversial due to the unlawful actions carried out on the Silk Highway. Furthermore, the lengthy jail sentence he obtained stays some extent of competition for some.

The platform, which Ulbricht launched in 2011, operated as an internet black market. Customers might purchase and promote medicine, pretend IDs and different unlawful items, all paid for primarily with Bitcoin.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) shut down Silk Highway in 2013, setting the tempo for Ulbricht’s arrest and eventual conviction. As a part of the sentence, the Silk Highway founder obtained two life sentences with out the potential of parole.

Regardless of the seriousness of the costs, Ulbricht’s supporters argue that his sentence was excessively harsh. That is very true given the non-violent nature of his crime. They imagine Ulbricht has been made a scapegoat for cryptocurrency-related crimes.

Many within the crypto group proceed to name for his leniency. Some even name his case a mirrored image of harsh authorized motion in opposition to pioneers of the digital age.

Polymarket bettors on Ulbricht’s doable leniency

The problem of Ulbricht’s launch has even discovered its approach to Polymarket, a prediction platform the place customers guess on political and social outcomes. Bettors on Polymarket are at present speculating on a 77% likelihood that Trump will pardon Ulbricht, making him one of many prime candidates eligible for Trump’s potential pardon checklist. He matches people concerned within the January 6 Capitol riot who even have a 77% likelihood.

Ross Ulbricht’s potential clemency possibilities. Supply: Polymarkt

In the meantime, the US authorities is liquidating the Bitcoin seized from Silk Highway. Following a Supreme Court docket ruling, authorities had been allowed to promote giant quantities of Bitcoin associated to the case. The proceeds go to the federal government.

Authorized specialists have commented on this sale, arguing that it displays the altering perspective of regulatory authorities in direction of Bitcoin, shifting from seizing the digital forex as ‘prison property’ to monetizing it at for the advantage of public funds. Nevertheless, some analysts warn that promoting such big Bitcoin shares might probably influence the market, particularly since Bitcoin’s worth is very delicate to giant fluctuations in provide.

The Silk Highway case has turn into a logo of greater than only a prison enterprise. It has sparked debates concerning the limits of justice, the precise to innovation and the strain between the federal government and privateness advocates.

Whereas Ulbricht holds out hope for leniency, his case stays on the heart of discussions about digital privateness, decentralization and judicial equity. For now, Ulbricht and his supporters await January with guarded optimism, hoping for a reprieve after greater than a decade in jail.