Trump pardons and releases Ross Ulbricht, crypto millionaire and owner of the largest ‘store’ on the dark web

The new president of the United States, Donald Trump, issued a formal pardon ordering his release. Ross Ulbricht. He is the creator of Silk Road, a virtual store that operates on the dark web and sells a range of illegal goods and services.

The politician confirmed the action on his social network Truth and said he had spoken to Ross’ mother. “It was my pleasure to sign a full and unconditional pardon.” said the president. He criticized it even more “the asshole trying to convict him“I called those interested in justice”the same crazy people involved in the militarization of the government“against himself.

A presidential pardon is a traditional act of handover in the United States: Both the departing politician and the new person in charge usually sign parole measures during this period. itself Trump too Pardoned some people involved in the invasion of the CapitolThe incident occurred four years ago.

Since being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015, Ulbricht’s arrest was challenged by libertarian movement members and cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Ross became something of a celebrity in the world by accepting bitcoin payments on Silk Road and amassing a fortune of more than US$13 million (about R$78 million at current prices) with the crypto asset of his criminal enterprise.

The Rise and Fall of the Silk Road

Silk Road Founded by Ulbricht in 2011When he started marketing the hallucinogenic mushrooms he grew himself. The initiative was located on the dark web, which until then was little known to the public and was only accessible through browsers such as Tor.

The service grew and began to act as: a type of marketplace where illegal goods are bought and sold. Products offered included various drugs, prescription drugs (including opioids), pirated software, stolen data, cloned credit cards, and even recruitment of cybercriminals.

Operating under the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, Ross controlled all operations and transformed the website into a domain with over 100 thousand buyers. Established Bitcoin as currency for transactions; This is one reason why cryptocurrency has been accused of being nothing more than a criminal and money laundering scheme.

Boy He was arrested in a library in 2013 and his computer was confiscated. After the arrest was made during the action, the notebook was opened and all files related to the control of the Silk Road, which was closed shortly afterwards, were accessed by the authorities.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay more than $183 million. Fees include: drug traffickingto be being complicit in the deaths of clients due to overdose, money laundering and even Hire assassins to eliminate enemies — something that could not be proven at trial and became one of the fan community’s criticisms of the conviction.

Ross has also become something of a martyr to the libertarian and cryptocurrency community, who think the condemnation is overblown. Other digital store owners on the dark web were also later arrested, including for attempts to reactivate the Silk Road, but received lesser sentences.