The post Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht but Silk Road deputy remains behind bars appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Bitcoin industry’s first major business, the Silk Road, is now free. Donald Trump called his mother Lyn Ulbricht last night to deliver the news that he had signed a full and unconditional presidential pardon of her son who had been in federal prison since summer 2015. Trump promised to pardon Ulbricht on “day one” in office. However, as January 20 passed and January 21 drew to a close, doubt began to creep into the #FreeRoss community. Impatience grew as Trump spent time signing dozens of non-crypto executive orders and then went off to attend the Commander in Chief Ball and the Liberty Ball. Elon Musk tried to quell fears, reiterating the president’s promise mid-day on January 21 while White House spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment about the pardon prior to Trump’s announcement. The matter dragged on long enough for some X users to express skepticism. As of 7am on January 21, Polymarket’s binary options accepted crypto bets at 92% odds of his pardon. But by 7pm, Polymarket had resolved the market to 100% odds as Ulbricht received the pardon. Ross Ulbricht receives full, unconditional, presidential pardon On the evening of January 21, Trump used his social media platform Truth Social to announce that he had signed Ulbricht’s full pardon. Lyn Ulbricht tweeted the news after her phone call with Trump. The action was above and beyond Trump’s verbal promise that he made at the Libertarian National Convention and reiterated at Bitcoin 2024. He’d only promised to commute Ulbricht’s sentence — a lesser reprieve that would have simply freed him from prison. Ulbricht’s full pardon not only terminates his punishment but also absolves him of federal guilt for his previously convicted actions. During its 2011-2013 operation, Silk Road primarily facilitated drug and firearms…

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Filed under: News - @ January 22, 2025 11:21 am