Donald Trump's pardon of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, has sparked a lot of interest in the crypto and legal communities. So, let's break it down 🤔.
Ross Ulbricht, now 40, was convicted of creating and operating the Silk Road marketplace, where users could buy and sell illegal goods and services using Bitcoin. The platform was shut down by the FBI in 2013, and Ulbricht was sentenced to double life imprisonment plus 40 years 🚔.
However, many people, including the Libertarian Party, felt that the sentence was too harsh and that Ulbricht had already served enough time 🤷♂️. Trump's pardon was seen as a fulfillment of his campaign promise to release Ulbricht and was widely welcomed by the crypto community 🎉.
It's worth noting that the FBI seized 69,370 Bitcoins from Silk Road, which are now valued at over $6 billion 💸. However, the Biden administration sold these Bitcoins before leaving office, so Trump won't be using them to establish a national Bitcoin reserve 🚫.
Ulbricht's mother, Lyn, has spoken publicly about her son's case, saying that while she doesn't condone his actions, she feels that the sentence was too severe and that Ross has already learned his lesson 🤗.
Overall, Trump's pardon of Ross Ulbricht is a significant development in the crypto and legal worlds, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming days and weeks 🤔.