Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and has served 11 years, no longer has to spend his 41st birthday in a prison in Arizona, USA.

On January 21, 2025, the day after his inauguration, US President Trump signed a pardon for Ross Ulbricht.

According to Article II of the US Constitution, the President has the power to pardon federal crimes, except in cases of impeachment.

Trump stated on social media that the pardon was "full and unconditional" and that the trial against Ross Ulbricht was "ridiculous," and those who convicted him were "crazy." Trump also called Ulbricht's mother on the day of the pardon to personally inform her of the news.

Elon Musk retweeted Trump's message on social media, saying, "I was honored to be in the Oval Office when President Trump signed this order tonight."

That evening, the first photo of him after his release appeared on social media: Ross Ulbricht, with blond hair, wearing a gray tracksuit, carrying books and personal items in a white net bag, holding a small green plant in a white pot, and smiling as he walked in the parking lot.

He is free.

The Largest Darknet Marketplace

In January 2011, Ross Ulbricht founded the online trading market "Silk Road."

"Silk Road" operated on Tor (The Onion Router), and all transactions were conducted in Bitcoin, allowing users to completely evade regulation and conduct fully anonymous online transactions on the darknet.

Ross Ulbricht once wrote in his diary: "I originally called it 'Underground Broker,' but eventually chose 'Silk Road.' My idea was to create a website where people could anonymously purchase anything without any clues that could trace back to them."

Because of these features, "Silk Road" quickly became a hotbed for illegal activities such as hacker software, fake IDs, illegal drugs including narcotics, and money laundering, becoming the largest darknet black market. Ross Ulbricht, as the founder of the site, was active under the pseudonym "Dread Pirate Roberts" and gradually became a notorious figure in the darknet world.

"Silk Road" was also under investigation by US authorities, but due to its completely anonymous nature, law enforcement was helpless for a long time. Later, investigators disguised as darknet users infiltrated "Silk Road" and became site administrators, and by obtaining information from servers located outside the US, they finally identified "Dread Pirate Roberts" as Ross Ulbricht—a young American living in California.

The arrest of Ross Ulbricht was also quite dramatic.

On October 1, 2013, at the Glen Park Public Library in San Francisco, two FBI agents, a man and a woman disguised as a couple, argued fiercely next to Ross Ulbricht. As Ulbricht's attention was drawn, a third agent quickly snatched his Samsung laptop and then arrested him.

The FBI did this to prevent Ulbricht from deleting or encrypting files on the laptop. He didn't even have time to lock the screen—after obtaining the laptop, the FBI immediately inserted a USB drive containing file-copying tools, and all the data was displayed in front of the federal agents, becoming the core evidence in the prosecution of Ross Ulbricht.

In the seized chat records, he considered himself a handsome devil, thinking that his chances of being caught were extremely small, and even claimed that operating the darknet black market was bringing order and civilization, enjoying this "adventure."

Digital Currency "Tragic Hero"

Facing an indefinite sentence, Ross Ulbricht began to appeal.

In January 2016, Ross Ulbricht appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, claiming that the prosecution concealed evidence of misconduct by DEA agents and that the sentencing was too harsh. However, in May 2017, the court upheld the original verdict.

In November 2017, Ross Ulbricht submitted a petition for a writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court, challenging the legality of the evidence and the basis for the sentencing, requesting a review of the case. On June 28, 2018, the US Supreme Court denied the request.

In addition to life imprisonment, Ross Ulbricht was also sentenced to pay a huge fine of nearly $184 million. This was calculated by the prosecution based on the price of Bitcoin at the time and the total illegal drug sales on "Silk Road."

The first indictment submitted by the US prosecution in February 2014 showed that "Silk Road" had total sales revenue of over 9.5 million Bitcoins. In less than three years, "Silk Road" extracted commissions of over 600,000 Bitcoins from these sales. Based on today's price of over $100,000 per Bitcoin, these Bitcoins are equivalent to $60 billion today.

In fact, most of the fines required by the court to be paid by Ross Ulbricht were realized through the forfeiture of Bitcoins.

Although the crimes for which Ross Ulbricht was convicted are undoubtedly conclusive, many people still sympathize with him.

Key among these is that "Silk Road," during its heyday, coincided with the nascent stage of Bitcoin. The price of Bitcoin rose from $0.3 per Bitcoin when "Silk Road" was founded in January 2011 to over $130 per Bitcoin when Ulbricht was arrested and "Silk Road" was shut down.

Many early Bitcoin users believe that the emergence of "Silk Road," as one of the earliest large-scale applications of Bitcoin, actually provided a "real" application scenario for Bitcoin, supporting Bitcoin's thrilling leap from utopia to a monetary equivalent. For this reason, he is considered a pioneer with a visionary perspective in the industry.

Especially with the arrest, heavy sentencing, and imprisonment of Ross Ulbricht, combined with his young and handsome appearance, he has become a symbolic figure in the US and global cryptocurrency fields, a "tragic hero" who sacrificed for internet freedom and privacy protection.

In recent years, as the digital currency market has grown, he has increasingly entered the mainstream view. The "Free Ross" movement has also shown a very strong development momentum online and offline. On the "Free Ross" website freeross.org, 600,000 people have already signed the online petition.

On the "Free Ross" website, a side of Ross Ulbricht's life in prison is also displayed.

As a "high-IQ criminal," he holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master's degree in Material Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and he was awarded a scholarship to pursue a Ph.D. at Cornell University.

The "Free Ross" website states: "In prison, Ross teaches science and math courses and tutors other prisoners. He leads yoga and meditation classes to help prisoners better cope with anxiety."

After the Pardon: Celebration and Controversy

Today, Ross Ulbricht, who has served 11 years, has been pardoned, once again pushing related controversies to the forefront of American public opinion.

On social media, supporters of Ross Ulbricht are jubilant, seeing this as a vindication for explorers of internet freedom. They believe that Ross Ulbricht initially just wanted to build an anonymous free trading space but was unfortunately exploited by criminals, leading to criminal activities.

In their view, Ross Ulbricht himself was not convicted for selling drugs or illegal items, but had to take responsibility for others selling things on the website. Moreover, the US government "stole" Ross Ulbricht's Bitcoins, profiting handsomely.

Especially in the cryptocurrency community, the trial of Ross Ulbricht has always been seen as "an attempt to hinder the development of cryptocurrencies." Now that he has been pardoned, this "tragic hero" regaining his freedom is undoubtedly a significant policy boost for the cryptocurrency market.

After all, as an industry that always operates on the edge of regulatory policies, the cryptocurrency market is overly sensitive to policies. It can quickly retract because Trump's inaugural speech does not mention cryptocurrencies, and it can also rebound excitedly because a symbolic figure is released.

However, the wave of opposition is also rising. Many people worry that pardoning Ross Ulbricht might send the wrong signal to criminals, making those who attempt to engage in illegal activities on the darknet feel they have an opportunity, thereby increasing the difficulty of combating cybercrime.

Many people also feel that "Silk Road" undoubtedly brought criminal problems to society, and Ross Ulbricht, as the founder, cannot shirk his responsibility and should not be easily pardoned. Especially for someone involved in serious crimes like him, suddenly being exonerated could potentially damage the fairness and authority of the judiciary, making previous investigations and trials seem meaningless.

Of course, "arbitrarily" exercising the power of pardon is a right granted to the president by the US Constitution. For example, after the end of the Vietnam War, in 1977, Carter pardoned the crimes of more than 200,000 people who evaded military service during the Vietnam War at once.

US Republican Congressman Thomas Massie retweeted the news of Trump's pardon of Ross Ulbricht on social media, saying, "Mr. President, thank you for keeping your promise to me and others who have always advocated for Ross's freedom!" Pardoning Ross Ulbricht was one of the promises Trump made during his 2024 campaign targeting the cryptocurrency field, and perhaps the easiest one to fulfill—

just by signing an executive order.