Ross Ulbricht excited and grateful to President Donald Trump for giving him his freedom, life and future back

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the online marketplace Silk Road, publicly thanked President Donald Trump after Trump granted him a full pardon, saying Trump had given him his “freedom, life and future back.” Trump’s decision ended Ulbricht’s life sentence, which followed his 2015 conviction for creating and operating Silk Road, a dark-web market known for facilitating drug sales and other illegal activity. The pardon is significant because Ulbricht had become a polarizing figure in the cryptocurrency and libertarian worlds: to supporters, he symbolized excessive punishment and internet-freedom concerns, while critics viewed him as responsible for a marketplace tied to serious criminal conduct. The move also carried political weight because Trump had previously signaled support for freeing Ulbricht, and the pardon was widely interpreted as fulfillment of that promise.

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• The Folly of Freeing Ross Ulbricht - Manhattan Institute (manhattan.institute)
• Ross Ulbricht Didn't Deserve to Die in Prison. Thanks to Trump He ... (cato.org)
• Trump Pardons Creator of Silk Road Drug Marketplace (doggett.house.gov)

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