President Donald Trump has failed to deliver on his campaign promise to pardon Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road, a dark web marketplace that was shut down in 2013.
During his campaign for a second term, Trump pledged that, if re-elected, he would “commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht” on Day 1.
Elon Musk Fuels Speculation Over Trump’s Ulbricht Pardon
Back in November, after Trump’s election victory, there were strong rumors that Trump would pardon Ulbricht on his first day in office. Despite this, the conversation about potential clemency for Ulbricht has not faded.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk and Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle have commented on the matter, fueling speculation that the pardon could still happen soon.
“Ross will be freed too,” said Musk on Twitter.
McArdle, a vocal supporter of Ulbricht’s case, also shared her belief that Trump would follow through on his pledge.
“Trump’s staff just confirmed to me Ross’s pardon will be issued late tonight or tomorrow morning,” Angela McArdle posted.
Ulbricht was convicted for his role in running the web3 marketplace Silk Road on the dark web. The site facilitated the sale of drugs and other illicit goods with cryptocurrency. His case has drawn significant attention. Many advocated for Ulbricht’s release, citing his lengthy sentence of two life terms without the possibility of parole.
Although no official pardon has been issued, the market strongly predicts it will happen.
Prediction market platform Polymarket has currently assigned a 93% chance that Trump will grant clemency to Ross Ulbricht within the first 100 days of his second term. Polymarket allows users to forecast the outcomes of real-world events by buying and selling shares.
Experts are Divided on Ulbricht’s Sentence
Supporters of Ulbricht argue that his sentence is excessive. This is considering his role in creating a platform rather than directly engaging in illegal activities.
Nonetheless, the developments come as Trump disappointed the crypto industry when he omitted it from his inaugural priorities. However, crypto advocates are not alarmed by this omission, given Trump’s prior vocal support and his own meme coin projects.
The FBI shut down the Silk Road marketplace back in 2013 and confiscated 69,370 Bitcoin. The tokens are now worth over $6 billion. It was suggested that Trump could potentially use this large BTC to fund a national Bitcoin reserve.
However, Biden authorized the sale of these funds last month before he left office.
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