Trump Pardons Former Silk Road Founder and Bitcoin Icon Ross Ulbricht
Those who convicted Ulbricht were "some of the same lunatics involved in the modern-day weaponization of government against me," Trump wrote Tuesday.
Jason Nelson
Sebastian Sinclair
By Jason Nelson and Sebastian Sinclair
Jan 22, 2025
3 min read

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday a pardon for Ross Ulbricht, ending the Silk Road founder’s more than decade-long imprisonment.

In a social media post on Truth Social, Trump said he had granted Ulbricht a "full and unconditional pardon," citing support from the Libertarian movement and criticizing the government’s handling of Ulbricht’s case.

From 2011 to 2013, Ulbricht operated the Silk Road marketplace, going by the nickname Dread Pirate Roberts.

Prosecutors said the site served over 100,000 buyers, facilitating illegal drug sales and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the FBI, the Silk Road made $13 million in Bitcoin through commissions.