• Donald Trump has pardoned the creator of the Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht.
• The Silk Road operated on the dark web from 2011 to 2013 selling drugs, weapons and other illicit goods anonymously.
• Trump says he has pardoned Ulbricht in honour of his mother and the Libertarian Movement.

One of the websites that thrust the dark web into the mainstream conversation was Silk Road. Here, willing buyers could find willing sellers of everything from drugs to weapons and forged documents among other things.

Silk Road ran on the anonymised Tor Network and used Bitcoin as its main transaction currency which flowed through Escrow payment systems insuring scammers were stopped dead in their tracks. It was all very well thought out until law enforcement infiltrated the website and apprehended its creator in 2013.

The creator is Ross William Ulbricht who famously used the screen name Dread Pirate Roberts. In 2015, Ulbricht was convicted of a battery charges including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the internet, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identity documents, and conspiracy to commit computer hacking.

It was also alleged that Ulbricht solicited six murders-for-hire although no evidence that the murders happened was ever brought to light. The sentence handed down at the time was purposefully severe so as to signal to copycats that this offense had serious consequences.

For his crimes, Ulbricht received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. It’s believed that during its two years of operation, over $200 million worth of drugs alone were sold.

However, the Silk Road founder is now set to become a free man thanks to President Donald Trump. Early on Wednesday morning the US leader posted to his own social network, Truth Social, that he had informed Ulbricht’s mother he intended to pardon her son.

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” the president truthed.

Aside from trying to make good with the Libertarian party, which BBC reports believes that Ulbricht’s case is an example of government overreach, Trump has another reason he pardoned the man.

“The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!” Trump added.

The “modern day weaponization” Trump is referencing there is likely a nod to the fact that in May 2024 a New York Jury found him guilty on 34 charges of illegally influencing the 2016 election and paying an adult film actor hush money after the two had sexual relations. He became the first US President to be convicted of a felony and today he occupies the highest seat in the US government.

Aside from sticking it to the Democrats and cosying up to Libertarians, it is not exactly clear why Trump has chosen to pardon Ulbricht.

It is believed that Ulbricht has funds hidden away in the form of Bitcoin that authorities never found. Given that Bitcoin was acquired in 2013 long before the boom, Ulbricht could be sitting on a fortune if the rumours are true.

We’re sure the authorities will be watching the convict closely once he leaves prison.