Ross Ulbricht has served 10 years of his two life sentences in prison, which were handed down to him in 2015. He expressed his fears of spending the rest of his life behind bars but acknowledged that it was his own wrong choices that led him there.
#SilkRoad, created by
#Ulbricht in 2011, was the first modern internet
#marketplace operating on the
#darkweb, using
#Bitcoin as its payment system.
He was arrested by U.S. authorities in October 2013, and in May 2015, he was sentenced to double life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He was found guilty of "substances" trafficking through the Silk Road darknet marketplace, conspiracy to transport drugs, hacking computer networks, money laundering, and leading a criminal organization.
Ulbricht had sought to challenge his conviction in the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that his rights were violated during the investigation and trial, but the Supreme Court rejected his petition in June 2018.
His case garnered significant public attention, with over 250 organizations and notable individuals advocating for his release. Elon Musk even commented that the founder of Silk Road had received an excessively harsh sentence.
Ulbricht also enjoyed support from the cryptocurrency community, with some dubbing him the "political prisoner of Bitcoin." His creation of Silk Road played a role in popularizing Bitcoin and catapulting it into public awareness.
During Silk Road's operation, it facilitated sales totaling 9,519,664 BTC, with platform fees earning about 600,000 BTC between February 2011 and July 2013. These amounts were worth approximately $1.2 billion and $80 million, respectively, at the time of publication.
Many pointed out that Ulbricht received a disproportionately severe sentence considering that he did not commit any violent crimes. Instead, he was essentially held responsible for the illegal actions of others on the platform.
Ross Ulbricht's case remains a prominent and controversial episode in the history of cryptocurrencies and the dark web.
$BTC