President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced he granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of notorious dark web marketplace Silk Road, which allowed users to buy and sell illegal products and services anonymously.
Trump, who first proposed to pardon the Silk Road creator during his 2024 presidential campaign, announced his clemency on Truth Social on Tuesday.
“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright [sic] 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,” Trump wrote.
In Truth Social post, the president claimed that the same individuals that convicted Ulbricht were “the same lunatics” that were involved in the weaponization against him.
Who Is Ross Ulbricht?
Ross Ulbricht is the founder of Silk Road, an infamous dark web marketplace that facilitated the anonymous sale of illegal goods and services, including drugs, hacking tools and counterfeit documents like passports.
Silk Road became an example of how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin could be used for illicit transactions. On the platform, Ulbricht operated under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” a reference to a character from the film The Princess Bride.
Born in Austin, Texas, in 1984, Ulbricht studied physics and pursued a graduate scholarship at Penn State before developing an interest in libertarian ideals and Bitcoin, according to Wired. His ambition to create a marketplace free from government oversight ultimately led to the creation of Silk Road.
What Was Ross Ulbricht Convicted Of?
The Silk Road marketplace was launched in 2011. It was shut down by the FBI in October 2013, leading to Ulbricht’s arrest and subsequent conviction.
Ulbricht was arrested in 2013. In early 2015, he was convicted on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking. In May 2025, he received a sentence of two life terms plus 40 years without the possibility of parole.
Ulbricht’s pardon has been met with gratitude from his family. His attorney Brandon Sample also expressed appreciation for the president’s move.
“Ross Ulbricht and his family are deeply and eternally grateful to President Trump for his extraordinary act of grace in granting Ross a full and unconditional pardon,” Sample told The New York Post. “After enduring over a decade of incarceration, this decision offers Ross the opportunity to begin anew, to rebuild his life and to contribute positively to society.”
What Is The Silk Road Dark Web?
The Silk Road was a black market accessible only via the encrypted Tor network, which anonymized users and their locations. The platform operated for the sale of illegal goods and services and was one of the first users of Bitcoin, which offered an additional layer of secrecy for buyers and sellers.
The Silk Road quickly gained notoriety for facilitating drug trafficking and other illicit activities. The marketplace generated millions of dollars in sales and more than $13 million dollars’ worth of Bitcoin in commissions, according to a press release from the FBI.
The narcotics distributed on Silk Road have been linked to at least six overdose deaths across the world, according to a press release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
How Much Bitcoin Did Ross Ulbricht Have?
Ross Ulbricht’s Bitcoin holdings, as confiscated by authorities, amounted to approximately 144,000 BTC. At the time of the seizure in 2013, this amount was worth around $28.5 million.
But due to Bitcoin’s price increases over the years, this same amount of Bitcoin would now be valued at billions of dollars.
Ulbricht’s assets were later auctioned off by the U.S. government in a series of sales.
How Was Ross Ulbricht Caught?
Ulbricht was arrested on October 1, 2013, in a San Francisco public library. Law enforcement officials had been investigating the Silk Road for years, piecing together breadcrumbs to identify Ulbricht as the mastermind behind the illegal marketplace.
Key elements of his capture included:
- Tracking early online posts by Ulbricht using his real email address to promote Silk Road.
- Analyzing metadata from servers and communications related to the platform.
- Observing his online activities, including accessing Silk Road as an administrator.
During his arrest, authorities seized Ulbricht’s laptop, which was open and logged into Silk Road’s administrative interface, providing crucial evidence for his conviction.
The post Who Is Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht? What We Know appeared first on Newsweek.
