Technically, Donald Trump broke his campaign promise not to release Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht on the first day of his presidency. (No, Inauguration Day is not “Day Zero.”) But as I explained in my previous article, I wasn’t expecting an actual pardon on Day One anyway. Even the second day exceeds my expectations. Trump did it, and I’m so glad he did it.
When I first heard about Silk Road in early 2013, I was immediately intrigued by the concept of buying and selling drugs anonymously online. To this day, I believe dark web markets are the best intermediate step before the war on drugs ends: they remove dealers from street corners while providing users with some level of quality assurance through a public rating system.
Discovering Silk Road was also how I first learned about Bitcoin. I started writing about cryptocurrency a few months later, and I’m still writing about it today. In a way, I owe my career to Ulbricht.
Sentencing Ulbricht to spend the rest of his life in prison was a miscarriage of justice in my view. Even if you believe he is guilty of everything he was convicted of (all non-violent crimes), more than a decade behind bars should be long enough time.
I certainly don’t think Trump actually cares about Ulbricht; He could have been released during his first term if that had been the case. Trump certainly has no intention of ending the war on drugs; If anything, he’s about to escalate it Classifying cartels as terrorist organizations and Imposing the death penalty on drug traffickers. Trump promised to pardon Ulbricht because it would benefit him politically — but to his credit, he kept his word.
Ross is finally free. Well done, President Trump and everyone who helped make this happen.
This article is a takes. The opinions expressed are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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