Donald
J.
Trump
has
pledged
to
commute
Silk
Road
founder
Ross
Ulbricht’s
life
sentence
to
time
served
if
he’s
re-elected
president.
“If
you
vote
for
me,
on
Day
1,
I
will
commute
the
sentence
of
Ross
Ulbricht
to
a
sentence
of
time
served,”
Trump
said
during
his
Saturday
night
remarks
at
the
Libertarian
National
Convention
in
Washington,
D.C.
“He’s
already
served
11
years,
we’re
gonna
get
him
home.”
Hours
before
those
remarks,
Trump
took
to
social
media
to
praise
the
crypto
industry,
writing
on
Truth
Social:
“I
am
very
positive
and
open
minded
to
cryptocurrency
companies,
and
all
things
related
to
this
new
and
burgeoning
industry.
Our
country
must
be
the
leader
in
the
field.
There
is
no
second
place,”
Trump
wrote,
adding
that
President
Joe
Biden
“wants
[the
cryptocurrency
industry]
to
die
a
slow
and
painful
death.
That
will
never
happen
with
me!”
In
his
evening
address,
Trump’s
pledge
to
free
Ulbricht
was
met
with
raucous
cheers
from
the
assembled
audience,
many
of
whom
were
holding
up
signs
reading
“Free
Ross.”
In
2015,
Ulbricht
was
sentenced
to
two
consecutive
life
sentences
plus
40
years
– effectively,
life
in
prison
without
the
possibility
of
parole
– for
creating
and
operating
Silk
Road.
The
now-defunct
darknet
marketplace
was
used
to
anonymously
buy
and
sell
goods,
but
was
largely
used
for
drugs.
Silk
Road
operated
from
2011
to
2013
and
is
widely
considered
the
first
real-world
use
case
for
Bitcoin.
Ulbricht
has
become
something
of
a
martyr
for
many
in
the
crypto
community,
as
well
as
to
many
Libertarians,
who
see
Ulbricht’s
draconian
sentence
as
a
governmental
overstep
and
a
violation
of
his
constitutional
rights.
In
2018,
the
Libertarian
Party
called
on
then-President
Trump
to
pardon
Ulbricht.
Before
Trump’s
presidency
ended
in
January
2021,
he
granted
clemency
to
143
individuals
– pardoning
73,
including
Ripple
board
member
Ken
Kurson,
and
commuting
the
sentences
of
70
others.
He
did
not
offer
clemency
to
Ulbricht,
Wikileaks
founder
Julian
Assange
or
Edward
Snowden,
who
released
details
about
a
U.S.
surveillance
program
to
American
journalist
Glenn
Greenwald.
Trump
also
made
more
general
comments
about
cryptocurrency
at
the
convention,
telling
attendees
that
he
would
“stop
Joe
Biden’s
crusade
to
crush
crypto
–
we’re
gonna
stop
it.”
“I
will
ensure
that
the
future
of
crypto
and
the
future
of
bitcoin
will
be
made
in
the
USA,
not
driven
overseas.
I
will
support
the
right
to
self
custody,”
Trump
said,
to
cheers.
“To
the
nation’s
fifty
million
crypto
holders,
I
say
this:
I
will
keep
Elizabeth
Warren
and
her
goons
away
from
your
bitcoin,
and
I
will
never
allow
the
creation
of
a
central
bank
digital
currency.”
Trump
has
warmed
up
considerably
to
crypto
in
recent
months,
making
several
pro-crypto
comments
publicly
and
becoming
the
first
major
party
presidential
candidate
to
accept
crypto
donations.
