Silk Road Founder Ross Walks a Free Man as Trump Pardons Him

Just a day after his swearing-in ceremony, US President Elect Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, founder of the infamous ‘Silk Road’ website, who was serving a life sentence for allegedly facilitating a dark web platform to avail illegal services through Bitcoins.

As President Trump pardoned Ross through an executive order on Monday, he walked a free man late at night. Elon Musk also commented on the pardon, tweeting , “I was honored to be in the Oval Office tonight when @POTUS signed this.”

After being arrested in 2013 for running the Silk Road website, Ross Ulbricht spent 12 years in prison before Trump picked up his case as an election campaign issue ahead of the 2024 US presidential elections.  

Pardoning Ross Ulbricht on Day 1 of Trump administration was one of the high points of the Trump campaign to woo the crypto community who by and large believed that Ross got an unfair deal. 

Trump announced the pardoning of Ulbricht on January 21, 2025, through his Truth Social account, crediting the act due to Ulbricht’s mother’s request and the Libertarian Movement’s backing. He described the original 40 years plus two life terms sentence as “crazy.”  

Source: Truth Social

Bitcoin gained popularity early on thanks to the new peer-to-peer marketplace The Silk Road, which was launched in 2011. The crypto community sees Ulbricht as a trailblazer who showed people how Bitcoin could be used, even though his platform was infamous for facilitating drug smuggling, weapon purchase and even murder for hire. 

Well-known activists like Amir Taaki and venture capitalist Tim Draper have openly asked for Ulbricht’s freedom. Ulbricht has always maintained that he didn’t build the Silk Road alone. 

While in prison, Ulbricht continued to participate in crypto discussions, telling others about fake investment plans and explaining what he believed about freedom and why Bitcoin was important. 

Trump’s decision to grant Ulbricht’s clemency generated a mix of responses, proving that Ulbricht’s contributions still shape Bitcoin’s past.