Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has raked in $1.8 million in Bitcoin from the sale of personal items linked to his incarceration. His prison ID card pulled in 11 BTC while an oil painting earned 1.2 BTC from the auction. Ross Ulbricht Earns Nearly $2 Million In Bitcoin From Prison Mementos As Ross Ulbricht savors the taste of freedom after over a decade behind bars, the Silk Road founder is parting ways with his items from prison. According to a listing description on Bitcoin-based marketplace Scare City, Ulbricht opted to auction the personal effects from his time in prison. “I’ve decided to auction some personal items from before my arrest and during my time in prison,” said Ulbricht. “I don’t need the reminders and I’m sure some of you will love to havee them.” Right off the bat, bids for the items began trickling in with Ulbricht’s prison ID card… Read More at Coingape.com
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]]>Speaking at the Bitcoin Conference 2024 in Nashville, former President Donald Trump announced that he would commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence. During his speech, he told his supporters that if he won a second term, this case will be his priority.
“Enough is enough!” Trump exclaimed with a promise to act immediately on the first day of his presidency.
Ross Ulbricht Freedom Promise Renewed by Trump
In a speech at Nashville’s Bitcoin Conference 2024, Former President Donald Trump said that he would pardon Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht. Besides, many members of the Bitcoin community have also shown support for Ross Ulbricht, who has been imprisoned since 2013 after creating and running the darknet market site Silk Road.
Trump: Today, I repeat my pledge to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served. It’s enough pic.twitter.com/GZOG8mH4cK
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 27, 2024
This earned cheers from some conference attendees as it symbolized the importance of such commitment to them. In response to President Trump’s first promise in May, Ulbricht thanked Trump for providing unwavering support for him hoping that one day he could give him another chance.
Therefore, before the Bitcoin conference, David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, articulated that any presidential candidates wishing to get votes from the crypto community should commit themselves to freeing Ross Ulbricht. For instance, even Kamala Harris should have promised to release convicted black-market marketplace operators if she was present alongside Trump at this year’s BTC event. Robert F. Kennedy Jr had also committed himself earlier, according to David Bailey.
Pro-Bitcoin and Crypto Agenda
Additionally, during his speech Trump outlined an all-encompassing plan aimed at making the US to become number one when it comes to Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. This included specific step-by-step plans aimed at making America “the world’s capital of Bitcoins and cryptos.”
Among these features are firing Gary Gensler, SEC Chairman, from his current position within 100 days and establishing an operation named Operation Chokepoint. Also, he assured preventing the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and ensuring that people’s rights to self-custody of virtual assets are protected.
Trump, in addition, has a broader goal of creating one united Bitcoin vault. This would involve the US government retaining all its Bitcoin holdings in order to establish a Strategic National Bitcoin Reserve. The President disclosed plans to work together with Senator Cynthia Lummis on the introduction of the Bill for Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.
The effort aims at collecting 1 million Bitcoins over five years from surplus Federal Reserve balance sheet items. Consequently, Trump pointed out that this move would reduce the national debt and strengthen the country’s position financially as well.
Read Also: Donald Trump To Fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler On Day 1
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
Ross Ulbricht, the incarcerated founder of the now busted Silk Road dark web marketplace, has fulfilled a major part of his sentence. A newly discovered court filing shows that last year, prosecutors quietly signed an agreement with Ulbricht to cancel out the $183 million in restitution he was to pay.
Ulbricht forfeits his claim to billions worth of Bitcoin to pay his $183 million restitution
According to the filing, a tranche of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, and Bitcoin SV worth nearly $3 billion will be forfeited to the government. The agreement stipulated that proceeds from the sale of the assets will go towards covering the money judgment part of Ulbricht’s sentence and any other purposes the government sees fit.
Ulbricht further relinquishes all right, title and interest in the [69,370 BTC] and agrees that said property shall be forfeited to the United States and disposed of according to law by the United States, the filing said.
The said assets originated from the efforts of government investigators in the Justice Department. Back in 2020, the government confiscated the 69,370 BTC from a hacker who exploited the Silk Road marketplace before it was shut down.
The Silk Road marketplace was notorious for facilitating the sale of drugs and other illegal items. Often called the first modern darknet marketplace, it operated from 2011 till it was finally shut down in 2014 by the FBI, and it accepted cryptocurrency payments to keep users anonymous.
Ulbricht continues to appeal his life sentence
Since 2015, Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence for his role in founding and operating the marketplace. However, he has been appealing to turn the sentence around. With this settlement, it means that he will be allowed to earn money while in prison according to Wired who first disclosed the document.
Wired also reports that Lyn Ulbricht, the programmer’s mother who has been championing his advocacy efforts, said the settlement was a significant victory. She added that there was still hope for the “unjust sentence” to be corrected.
“We’re very pleased that the financial penalty that was wrongly imposed on Ross has been reversed, just as other false charges against him were dropped in federal court after trial,” she said.
Meanwhile, Ulbricht has been garnering support for his appeal case from within prison. He has so far carried out two auctions of his NFT digital art pieces. The proceeds of the auctions have been going to his case and his philanthropy efforts to help other inmates and their families.
Disclaimer
The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
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