Key Insights:
Donald Trump has pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht's double life sentence.
Ross has been serving two life sentences since 2015 for owning and operating Silk Road, a darknet marketplace, between Jan 2011 and Oct 2013.
The marketplace was one of the early pioneers of using Bitcoin as a payment method.
His release was one of the key demands presented by the crypto community in front of Trump before the elections.
Trump had promised the release of Ross on day one if voted to power.
Donald Trump has officially pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of a dark web marketplace named Silk Road. Ulbricht has been serving a double life sentence since 2015 and has been in prison since 2013.
Charges against him included owning and operating an illegal marketplace. The crypto community saw this as an injustice because even hardcore criminals did not receive such penalties in the past.
Further, Hunter Biden's pardon irked everyone in the community, leading to even more tensions between Biden and the community as a whole.
Trump possibly saw this as an opportunity and promised to pardon Ross Ulbricht if he became president.
At press time, Ross Ulbricht has walked free from prison.
However, despite the pardon, the U.S. government under Biden had already sold the Silk Road's $6.5 billion worth of Bitcoins in the open market.
The Silk Road was a key dark web marketplace that supplied counterfeit goods, prohibited items, drugs, and other illicit items.
One of the listed products in the marketplace, drugs, became a key reason why U.S. authorities decided to intervene and arrest Ross Ulbricht. Among other items listed in the marketplace were Cuban cigars, a delicacy among the U.S. elite.
The marketplace's founder, Ross Ulbricht, was a highly skilled developer who created a simple and efficient payment process that leveraged the escrow mechanism to allow Bitcoin as a payment method. During Silk Road's lifetime, Bitcoin rose from $0.48 in January 2011 to $200 in October 2013.
Below is the FBI's explanation using a flowchart to depict the process. it was later used as evidence against Ross.
Donald Trump promised a Presidential Pardon for Ross Ulbricht as early as 26 May 2024, more than five months before the U.S. elections.
Trump's display of sympathy for Ross Ulbricht successfully wooed the crypto markets. Most of the market participants already had a soft corner for his double life sentences. By the time Trump announced his willingness to pardon Ulbricht, a pardon petition had already gathered decent momentum.
Donald Trump signed several necessary executive orders on his first day as the U.S. President, including action against illegal immigrants, cartographical changes, the end of DEI rules, and finally, the formation of DOGE.
Crypto missed being a top priority on Day 1 but would surely find its due attention in the days to come, which was proven by the Ross Ulbricht pardon.
A few major orders and announcements that we could see on crypto within the first quarter of 2025 include.
The possible end of the SEC's hunt against crypto companies.
The signing of the FIT-21 Act, which was approved earlier by the US Congress.
The possible end of differential electricity tariffs for Bitcoin miners.
A much-expected announcement regarding Bitcoin strategic reserves.
A crypto acquisition proposal for US-based cryptocurrencies like XRP, Algorand and others.
A presidential pardon in the USA is a complete absolution of all the crimes committed by an individual. It could be given before the conviction (Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci) or after the conviction (Ross Ulbricht).
However, it does not grant them immunity from future criminal cases or civil cases.
Countries like India, the UK, and France also have similar provisions but rarely use them.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information but will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.