On his first day in office, Trump pardoned a veteran prisoner of the crypto community who had served 11 years.
No one understands better than Trump how to use political leverage to manipulate public sentiment.
Recently, Trump has been under some pressure. To circumvent presidential investment restrictions, on the eve of his inauguration in the "Goose City," the Trump family directly issued a coin to allow an entire interest group behind him to achieve "money for nothing" at the fastest speed.
There can be many people who harvest in the coin circle, but the one person who cannot be the president. Many members of the cryptocurrency community who once supported him openly opposed this behavior. However, there is another voice among those in the crypto community who are dissatisfied with Trump's coin issuance:
"I cannot forgive Trump for issuing a coin on the eve of his inauguration unless he releases Ross Ulbricht tomorrow."
This is a perfect example of Trump's sophisticated political maneuvering. Under pressure from the crypto industry, he immediately called the mother of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and personally told the mother who has been waiting for her son to come home for ten years:
"I have just signed a full and unconditional pardon for your son Ross." Ross can come home.
This was Trump's promise during his campaign. He promised that if re-elected, he would grant clemency or even pardon Ross on his first day in office. Six months have passed since the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, and he has already fulfilled most of his promises at that time: firing the current SEC chairman Gray Gensler, appointing a Bitcoin/crypto presidential advisory committee, granting clemency or pardon to Ross, and establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the U.S. government.
Every word and action seems to prove and imply that "I will fulfill all my promises made during the campaign one by one, and the next one may be the Bitcoin strategic reserve." The Bitcoin strategic reserve is undoubtedly the G-spot of the crypto industry. This way, Trump has dampened most of the crypto industry's anger over his coin issuance.
For those far removed from the crypto industry, it may be difficult to understand why releasing Ross could appease the crypto industry's anger over Trump issuing a coin that allowed the interest group to achieve 'money for nothing'.
This story dates back to 2011 when many significant events occurred, including the killing of Bin Laden and the death of Kim Jong Il. But there were also some events that didn't seem so important at the time, such as Bitcoin's birth just two years prior. Unlike now, when one is worth $100,000, in the first one or two years after its birth, Bitcoin stayed at $0.1 per coin.
While Bitcoin may now seem like a brilliantly designed system, at the time, it was seen as a useless design by many. It wasn't until 2010 that Ross heard about Bitcoin from a client, which became a turning point.
Ross Ulbricht
In 2011, Ross founded the infamous darknet market "Silk Road," which was not a marketplace for trading tea, silk, or porcelain. Instead, it became the most well-known and notorious darknet marketplace in history. The primary commodities traded on this website were drugs, sex slaves, child pornography, hitmen, arms deals, and fake identities.
Screenshot of the Silk Road website, image source: internet
To ensure anonymity, Ross designed the platform to be accessed only through the Tor onion router (search engines couldn't access it, and entry required special software) and conducted transactions solely in Bitcoin. The government's crackdown on illicit activities revolves around financial control, which is rooted in the banking system firmly held by the government. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a payment tool divorced from the banking system—until now, banks and Bitcoin continue to coexist separately.
With the rise of Silk Road, Bitcoin finally found its first use case as a payment instrument for illicit transactions. Data shows that the Silk Road circulated over 9.5 million Bitcoins, which accounted for 80% of the circulating supply at that time.
To his real-life friends, Ross described his work as "building an economic simulator" with the aim of using economic theory to eliminate coercion and aggression between individuals, allowing people to experience what it's like to live in a world without systemic violence.
No one could have imagined that this seemingly sunny, ambitious young man was actually a major drug lord and the architect of the underground criminal world. However, there are no airtight walls in the world, as several regulatory agencies had their eyes on him, and even an FBI informant befriended him for a lengthy three-year period.
Ross once received an email from an FBI informant offering to buy him out for 1 billion dollars, image source: internet
The DEA already knew Ross's identity by following the network cable, and the FBI's arrest of him was also quite dramatic.
In October 2013, Ross was using a bookstore's Wi-Fi when the arrest happened. To prevent Ulbricht from deleting or encrypting files on his laptop, a pair of undercover agents posing as a couple walked past him and then loudly argued next to him.
With Ross distracted by curiosity, he turned to look at them, and at that moment, one agent swiftly took his laptop, while two other agents pounced on him. The agents inserted a USB device into the laptop and used software to copy key files, as Ross's laptop was logged into the "Silk Road" admin account at the time.
On August 21, 2014, Ross was officially charged with money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics. On February 4, 2015, he was found guilty on all charges. On May 29, 2015, the court sentenced Ross to double life imprisonment without parole for 40 years.
Undeniably, Ross was an extremely important figure in Bitcoin's development history. Just as Bitcoin was about to be overlooked by the world, he ended Bitcoin's history as a mere toy and gave it real-world significance — serving crime.
Just as the consensus of fools is still a consensus, the demand for the dark side is still a demand. Driven by illicit transactions, Bitcoin experienced its first major price surge, reaching $31 in June 2011. However, two months after Ross's arrest, Bitcoin soared to $1,100 per coin.
Due to the practice of liberalism, during Ross's 11 years in prison, there has continued to be broad support in society, including the cryptocurrency industry, for a more lenient treatment. Many in both parties also believe that Ross's sentence was unjust and that he should be given a second chance. Over 250 organizations, public figures, and leaders have expressed support, with over 600,000 people signing a petition for Ross's release.
Today, as times have changed, with Trump's election odds steadily rising on Polymarket (a highly accurate blockchain prediction platform), most people believe that Ross may be granted clemency or even a pardon.
Similarly, in the PolyMarket betting topic "Who will Trump pardon within the first 100 days in office?" there is a high likelihood of Ross being pardoned, with the odds of Ross's pardon steadily increasing. For a long time, Ross's probability of being pardoned was 73%.
A double life sentence plus 40 years on top was indeed too heavy for the young man who was just 26 years old at the time of his arrest.
Now, with the price of Bitcoin at $105,247, the United States has also welcomed its first "Bitcoin" president. Ross, who has been in prison for 11 years, is now 41 years old and as he walks out of prison, he can finally smile in front of the camera with ease.
First Photo of Ross Ulbricht After Pardon Revealed, Image Source BitcoinMagazine
You may also like
SpaceX vs Tesla vs xAI: Which Elon Musk Trade Has the Biggest Upside in 2026?
OpenAI Reveals It Has Confidentially Submitted an S-1 to the SEC, Keeping the Door Open for a Future IPO
On June 9, according to an OpenAI announcement, the company recently confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), beginning the preliminary compliance process for a potential initial public offering. OpenAI said it chose to disclose this proactively because it expected the news might leak; however, the company has not yet set a specific listing timeline, and related arrangements may still take some time.
Latest research from 13 top universities including Cornell University: The current state, challenges, and misconceptions of the fusion of Crypto and AI
Deconstructing Anthropic: The Best AI Company, Possibly Also a Type of Organizational Invention
Apollo and Blackstone Reportedly Back $35 Billion Anthropic Chip Financing as Deal Details Remain Unclear
On June 9, according to currently available news alerts, Apollo and Blackstone Group participated in a $35 billion financing for an Anthropic “chip project.” Based on the original wording of the report, the funding has already been raised, but public information remains limited. The financing structure, use of proceeds, project entity, and whether Apollo and Blackstone participated through equity, debt, or project financing have not yet been disclosed.
Humanity Protocol Security Incident Escalates: More Than $31 Million Stolen From Related Addresses as Attacker Continues Selling H for ETH
On June 9, according to monitoring by Onchain Lens, more than $31 million has been stolen from addresses linked to Humanity Protocol, and the attack is still ongoing, with the hacker continuously swapping H tokens for ETH. Project founder Terence Kwok later confirmed the security incident on X, saying the issue involved a private key leak.
Bloomberg: As Bitcoin Weakens, Stablecoins and RWA Continue to Drive Expansion in Crypto Businesses
In June, Bloomberg reported that despite Bitcoin falling below $60,000 last week, wiping out about $235 billion in market value within seven days, and dropping close to 50% from last year’s peak, some core businesses in the crypto industry are still expanding, mainly in stablecoins, real-world asset tokenization (RWA), payments, and infrastructure. The report also noted that overall altcoin activity has contracted significantly: altcoin market capitalization has fallen from a peak of about $431 billion in November 2021 to around $170 billion, and among the tens of millions of tokens issued in recent years, fewer than 1,700 still maintain meaningful trading activity.
Galaxy Deep Research Report: How Hyperliquid's HIP-4 Upgrade Changes the Landscape of Prediction Markets?
Binance Research: RWA Market Expected to Expand Nearly 6x from Early 2025, with Public Equities and Onchain Payments Heating Up Together
In June, Binance Research said in its monthly market report that the real-world asset (RWA) market is expected to grow by about 589% from the beginning of 2025. Bond- and money market fund-related RWA expanded by about $6.5 billion, up 83% year over year, while publicly traded equity RWAs grew by about 422%. The report also noted that monthly crypto debit card transaction volume exceeded $747 million in May, up 48.6% year to date.
Japan to Assess a Framework for Yen Stablecoins and Crypto ETFs as Asia’s Compliant Payments Narrative Heats Up
Recently, according to the original report, Japan is considering the launch of yen stablecoins and cryptocurrency ETFs. Public information remains limited at this stage, and there is still no complete policy text, regulatory draft, or clear implementation timeline, so this is better characterized as a “policy discussion” rather than formal implementation. The original wording also noted that advancing stablecoin regulation in Asia is driving XRP usage and supporting growth in the XRPL ecosystem. However, based on currently available public information, there is not enough evidence to directly establish a clear causal relationship between this round of discussion in Japan and XRP or XRPL.
ZachXBT: Humanity private key leak and abnormal surge in H token should be viewed separately
On June 9, according to related disclosures, on-chain investigator ZachXBT posted an update on Humanity’s roughly $31 million security incident, saying that after further analyzing fund flows, he currently tends to believe the project team was not involved in an “inside job” or a self-staged attack. According to him, the official explanation about the private key leak was broadly accurate, but before the token unlock, the price of H had been artificially pushed higher, and the hacker later took advantage of that market environment; therefore, the private key leak and the earlier abnormal price pumping should be regarded as two separate and independent events. This reframing has shifted the market’s understanding of the nature of the incident. Earlier discussion around Humanity had focused on whether the team directly participated in the attack or used the security incident to cover up internal operations. ZachXBT’s latest remarks shift the focus from “whether it was self-theft” to “whether there were pre-unlock market structure issues.” He also questioned whether the team may have.
Morning Report | OpenAI has submitted an S-1 registration statement draft to the U.S. SEC; Morpho completes $175 million financing
Morning Report | BitMine increased its holdings by 126,971 ETH last week; trader Eugene announced his exit from the crypto market
Wang Chuan: How can one not feel anxious after the neighbor Old Wang made thirty times profit by investing in storage stocks? (Seven) - A quarter-century cycle
Cryptocurrency CEXs are flocking to sell US stocks, and traditional brokerages are facing an "uninvited guest."
$75 billion in foreign capital has fled, and South Korean retail investors have absorbed it all using leverage
Japan’s Three Megabanks Plan Joint Stablecoin Issuance in Fiscal 2026
MUFG, SMBC, and Mizuho reportedly plan to jointly issue fiat-pegged stablecoins in fiscal 2026, signaling Japan’s growing push into bank-led digital payment infrastructure.
Humanity Discloses H Token Dual-Chain Attack Details, With Losses on Ethereum and BSC Exceeding $36 Million
Humanity said the H token attack across Ethereum and BSC caused more than $36 million in losses after leaked ProxyAdmin keys enabled malicious contract upgrades and token minting.
SpaceX vs Tesla vs xAI: Which Elon Musk Trade Has the Biggest Upside in 2026?
OpenAI Reveals It Has Confidentially Submitted an S-1 to the SEC, Keeping the Door Open for a Future IPO
On June 9, according to an OpenAI announcement, the company recently confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), beginning the preliminary compliance process for a potential initial public offering. OpenAI said it chose to disclose this proactively because it expected the news might leak; however, the company has not yet set a specific listing timeline, and related arrangements may still take some time.
Latest research from 13 top universities including Cornell University: The current state, challenges, and misconceptions of the fusion of Crypto and AI
Deconstructing Anthropic: The Best AI Company, Possibly Also a Type of Organizational Invention
Apollo and Blackstone Reportedly Back $35 Billion Anthropic Chip Financing as Deal Details Remain Unclear
On June 9, according to currently available news alerts, Apollo and Blackstone Group participated in a $35 billion financing for an Anthropic “chip project.” Based on the original wording of the report, the funding has already been raised, but public information remains limited. The financing structure, use of proceeds, project entity, and whether Apollo and Blackstone participated through equity, debt, or project financing have not yet been disclosed.
Humanity Protocol Security Incident Escalates: More Than $31 Million Stolen From Related Addresses as Attacker Continues Selling H for ETH
On June 9, according to monitoring by Onchain Lens, more than $31 million has been stolen from addresses linked to Humanity Protocol, and the attack is still ongoing, with the hacker continuously swapping H tokens for ETH. Project founder Terence Kwok later confirmed the security incident on X, saying the issue involved a private key leak.
Popular coins
Latest Crypto News
