Elon Musk, Libertarians Say Trump Will Pardon Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht, Bitcoin Climbs

U.S. President Donald Trump’s team has reportedly confirmed that Ross Ulbricht, the creator of dark web marketplace Silk Road, will be freed, nudging Bitcoin’s price slightly higher.

Silk Road, which was found to have users who engaged in illegal activity, allowed Bitcoin payments before it was shut down and Ulbricht was arrested. The U.S. Justice Department also seized over 50,000 in BTC from James Zhong, who stole the digital coins from Silk Road.

Trump Team Reaffirms President’s Promise

Last year, Trump promised a crowd of libertarians that he will commute Ulbricht’s sentence if he wins the presidential race. Late on Monday, Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle took to X to say, “Pres. Trump’s staff just confirmed to me Ross’s pardon will be issued late tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Prominent libertarian Liam McCollum also wrote that “Ross Ulbricht will be freed tonight or tomorrow.” When asked for a source, McCollum specifically tagged Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk.

Political analyst Dominic Michael Tripi had a similar post, saying Ulbricht will “be issued pardon late tonight or early tomorrow morning.”

Bitcoiners Flood X With Gratitude Posts

Following McArdle’s revelation, prominent figures in the cryptocurrency space commented on the news, with most of them from the Bitcoin community.

Among the big names who were thankful for the news were Riot Platforms VP of Research Pierre Rochard, fity.eth, and Ian Jaeger.

Some are demanding assurance, considering how Ulbricht’s family has yet to comment on the reports and the Silk Road founder’s X account that his family has been maintaining has yet to confirm the reports.

Bitcoin Slightly Spikes

Bitcoin prices slightly climbed late Monday after McArdle’s post spread across social media. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap is up 1.6% in the day and is trading above $102,000 following a dip to $100,000 a few hours earlier.

Why Bitcoiners Seek Ulbricht’s Freedom

Since Ulbricht’s arrest in 2013, a “Free Ross” movement has been tirelessly advocating for the Silk Round founder’s freedom, saying the now 40-year-old has served enough time and was only “held responsible for what others listed” on the darknet website.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life without parole in 2014, and as the years passed, the Free Ross movement only become more determined to get him pardoned.

Ulbricht’s arrest was largely scorned by crypto users, especially since Bitcoin was used as a payment option for Silk Road transactions. It was dubbed as the first “real” use case for Bitcoin.

Many Bitcoiners also believe Ulbricht shouldn’t be held responsible for other people’s actions as he only created the platform but was not tried for selling illegal items himself on the website.

Trump himself has yet to confirm that he will issue a pardon for Ulbricht, but just as hopes dimmed, Musk responded to an X user who posted a photo of Barron Trump supposedly telling his father to prioritize Ulbricht’s pardon.

“Ross will be freed too,” the tech titan and prominent Trump ally wrote.

Trump has already pardoned over 1,500 individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during the riot that killed five people.