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US President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark web, ending his two life sentences.
Ulbricht, now 40, was convicted of creating and managing the platform, which was used to buy and sell illegal goods and services using Bitcoin between 2011 and 2013. The market had more than 100,000 active users and total transactions reached about $214 million.
Ulbricht’s arrest in 2013 was one of the first major cases related to the use of cryptocurrencies in illegal activities. During the shutdown of this market by the FBI, 69,370 Bitcoins were seized, which are currently worth more than $6 billion. Interestingly, Joe Biden’s administration recently issued a license to sell these bitcoins.
Trump called Ross’ mother and announced his decision to pardon him and called the sentence unfair. Referring to the widespread support of the freedom movement for this decision, he said that he signed the amnesty in honor of this movement.
Ross, who was sentenced to two life sentences and 40 years in prison, has received a “ridiculous” sentence in Trump’s view.
The American Freedom Party has been calling for Ross’ release for a long time and considered this case as an example of excessive government intervention. According to this party, Ulbricht’s punishment was much more severe than other drug dealers on the Silk Road.
On the other hand, predictions on the Polymarket platform also predicted with a 93% probability that Trump would pardon Ross in the first 100 days of his presidency, and this decision was made in the first few days.
Lynn Ulbricht, Ross’ mother, stated in an interview that she does not approve of her son’s actions, but considers his punishment too harsh. Ross intended to create a free market, he said, but was oblivious to the dangers of malicious users. Now with his pardon, he has a chance to reclaim a part of his life.
By Ross Ulbricht’s pardon by order of Trump; The founder of Dark Web Silk Road was freed! First time in Cryptocurrency News. appeared
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