According to PANews, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, in his closing speech at the Bitcoin 2025 conference, used his experience of clearing the hive as a metaphor for the three principles of freedom, decentralization, and unity that the crypto community should uphold. He emphasized that opponents wish to see division.
Ulbricht was granted a presidential pardon by Trump in January 2025, ending his 12-year imprisonment. He thanked the crypto community for their support and expressed that after his release, facing new technologies like DeFi and Web3 felt like a 'modern-day Rip Van Winkle.' During its operation from 2011 to 2013, Silk Road accounted for 6% of all Bitcoin transactions.
