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Standing at the Bitcoin 2024 Convention in Nashville last summer, Donald Trump knew precisely how to put the crowd on his side. After promising to make the “cryptographic capital of the planet” and discard the deeply unpopular president of the SEC, Gary Gensler, the republican candidate made a commitment that won one of the greatest acclamations of his speech.
“I will be Ross Ulbricht’s sentence once it is served,” he said, referring to the founder of the Dark Web Mercado Silk Road, who had been in criminal since 2013. “It is enough, it is enough. “
On Tuesday – the first full day of his presidency – Trump granted Ulbricht a full and unconditional pardon, allowing him to walk free after more than 11 years of incarceration.
Four of those years imprisoned were during Trump’s first term in office, leading some to accuse the incoming president of pandering to a fringe segment of voters who the Republican candidate courted during his campaign. This group was made up of libertarians and cryptocurrency holders, who had made Ulbricht into a cause celebre after he was handed a double life sentence plus 40 years for non-violent crimes.
He thought of as a champion of Internet loosedom and the user who built the platform who provided the first case of mass use of Bitcoin. The Ross loose website, which led through his family, described it as an “idealistic libertarian, passionate about markets and useral life”.
Some have also praised the silk route because it is a safer way to buy illicit drugs than in the streets, where buyers have risked robbery, violence or harmful products, despite the fact that the notoriety of the site has led to classify “The maximum harmful guy on the Internet. “
The dark online page founded on the precept of libertarian non -aggression, which allows other people to buy and sell anything, provided there is no damaged third party. The rules of the site, which were only available through specialized software, meant that the pornography of children, the robbed property of violent services and fraudulent activities were strictly prohibited.
A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that the most common transactions were for personal-use amounts of marijuana – a drug that has since been legalised throughout many parts of the US.
Ulbricht admitted his guilt, but asked for forgiveness because the punishment for his crime is more serious than that of the murderers and the rapists.
In a letter to President Joe Biden in 2022, Ulbricht wrote: “26 years ago, I created an online electronic commerce page called Silk Road that allowed other people to buy and sell anonymously online. At that time, at the time I sold My ideals. However, since then I have learned the horrible mistake I made.
“It was intended to be a position where anyone could buy or sell whatever they selected as long as it didn’t harm someone else. [. . . ] He was younger.
The serious maximum allegations opposed to Ulbricht concerned an alleged manslaughter-for-hire service, however, there was no evidence of any homicide occurring, leading his supporters to claim that he had been targeted through “corrupt federal agents” and the victim of a witchy politically motivated policy pursuit.
In pardoning Ulbricht, Trump used language to compare Ulbricht’s case to his own legal troubles.
“The slag that worked to condemn him was among the same crazy people who were worried about the fashion weapons of the government opposed to me,” the president wrote in a social article of truth on Tuesday, indicating that Ulbricht’s release was motivated politically.
He inevitably drew comparisons to other politically motivated pardons granted through Trump, in about 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters, some of whom were caught of seditious conspiracy and assault on police officers.
But rather than insurrectionists, Trump was placating a less violent section of his supporters. His post added: “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright [sic] to let her know that in honour 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.”
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