A recent Bloomberg report revealed that former President Donald Trump has made several new promises to the crypto community should he win the upcoming US presidential election. Among these promises is a controversial pledge to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous Silk Road marketplace.
In 2011, Ross Ulbricht founded Silk Road, an online exchange facilitating the anonymous buying and selling of illegal goods and services using Bitcoin (BTC). During its two years of operation, Silk Road was linked to more than $200 million in illegal transactions, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
In 2013, Ulbricht was arrested and subsequently convicted on multiple charges, including drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, and money laundering. He is currently serving a double life sentence without the possibility of parole, having already spent 12 years in federal prison.
Prosecutors alleged that Ulbricht attempted to orchestrate five murders to protect his enterprise, although there is no evidence to suggest that any murders were carried out. His incarceration takes place in a federal facility in Tucson, Arizona, where he has unsuccessfully appealed his sentence twice.
For Trump, advocating for Ulbricht’s release presents an opportunity to connect with the crypto industry, which has rallied around Ulbricht as a symbol of the original principles of Bitcoin.
Many in the cryptocurrency community, including some of Bitcoin’s early developers, have long championed Ulbricht’s cause, viewing his case as symbolic of the potential for Bitcoin to serve as a “censorship-resistant transactional system.”
According to Bloomberg, Trump’s statement promising to commute Ulbricht’s sentence reflects a broader strategy to appeal to crypto advocates and true believers in the movement. During a speech at the Libertarian Party convention in May, Trump declared, “If you vote for me on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht. He’s already served 11 years. We’re gonna get him home.”
Ulbricht has maintained communication with the outside world despite his imprisonment through letters and blog posts. He remains an advocate for Bitcoin, crediting the cryptocurrency community for its support of his cause.
Ulbricht believes his initial intentions for Silk Road were rooted in providing privacy and freedom through Bitcoin, even as he acknowledges the illegal activities on the platform. In a blog post published in April, Ulbricht noted:
Much more is being said about Bitcoin these days than when I was put in prison. I thought I was putting Bitcoin to good use and giving people privacy and freedom. When illegal drugs were listed, I thought that was OK too, because I believed drugs should be legalized.
In addition to the Ulbricht pledge, Trump has made other notable promises to the community, including creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the US and a commitment to fire Gary Gensler, the current Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Interestingly, the former President is currently the “clear favorite” in the upcoming presidential election, which is less than two months away, according to CNN’s latest national poll update, with little over 68% odds of victory for Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
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