President Donald Trump has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an underground website for selling drugs.

Ross Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for creating a site in a shady corner of the internet to sell heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances.

President Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the drug marketplace Silk Road who is revered by many cryptocurrency enthusiasts and Libertarians. “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbright to let her know,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, misspelling Ulbricht’s name.

On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin jumped to more than $104,000, following Donald Trump’s announcement of a presidential pardon for Silk Road and bitcoin-libertarian folk hero Ross Ulbricht. The digital asset community also eagerly anticipated a flood of crypto executive orders that would overturn years of perceived regulatory slights.

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Social media slams Donald Trump for giving Silk Road operator and notorious drug dealer Ross Ulbricht an unconditional pardon.

Libertarian activists, who generally oppose criminal drug policies, argued the government overreached in building its case against Ross Ulbricht and the dark web marketplace Silk Road.

Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of online drug marketplace Silk Road who became a hero for America’s libertarian movement.

Blockchain data for crypto wallets operated by the Free Ross campaign showed more than $270,000 in donations for the Silk Road founder’s reintegration into society.

Ross Ulbricht’s story has become a cornerstone of crypto history. To many veterans, he represents the raw, unfiltered ethos of Bitcoin’s early days: radical freedom, decentralization, and resistance to government control.

Senator Cynthia Lummis is appointed chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets, focusing on pro-crypto policies.