The case of Ross Ulbricht has attracted significant public attention, and several individuals have advocated for clemency for the website’s founder.
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of now-defunct online black market Silk Road, has reached the tragic milestone of a decade behind bars. In 2013, US authorities sentenced him to double life imprisonment.
On October 2, Ulbricht shared his concerns on social media about spending the rest of his life “behind concrete walls and closed doors”. His post expressed a sense of resignation, with pleas for mercy as the only recourse. In his post on Twitter (now X), Ulbricht noted,
“One year for each finger of both hands. Today one decade has been completed in jail. I sometimes fear that I will spend the rest of my life behind concrete walls and closed doors. But I have no one else to blame. It’s my bad choices that have brought me here. Now I can only pray for mercy.”
In 2011, Silk Road was founded, with Ross Ulbricht, working under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts”, managing it from his personal laptop. The platform was renowned as a pioneer of modern darknet markets and employed a payment system based on Bitcoin (B T c, However, on October 1, 2023, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized Ulbricht’s laptop.
In 2015, Ulbricht faced a federal court trial in the United States on various charges related to Silk Road activities. His conviction resulted in two life sentences plus an additional forty years, without the possibility of parole.
Support for Ulbricht is growing
According to court records in the case, during its operational period, the Silk Road platform sold a total of 9,519,664 bitcoins (BTC) from February 2011 to July 2013 at the current rate of $28,241 per BTC. The market also collected commission. 600,000 Bitcoin (BTC), worth approximately $28,241 per BTC.
At the time of publication of the court documents, it had sales of approximately $1.2 billion and commissions of approximately $80 million. The case of Ross Ulbricht has attracted significant public attention, and several individuals have advocated for clemency for the website’s founder.
A website dedicated to advocating for justice on Ulbricht’s behalf reports that more than 250 organizations have supported these pleas, and nearly half a million individuals have digitally signed a petition urging Ulbricht’s release. Has been done The crypto and Bitcoin communities have also shown substantial support for their cause.
I almost cried after seeing this post, the punishment did not fit the crime and people who have done worse have been given a chance at redemption, #freeross
– soberclown.eth (@bitcoinnz) 2 October 2023
While there is a significant groundswell of support for Ulbricht, and many online users have expressed their belief that the penalties imposed on the Silk Road founder were unfair, there are also conflicting views.
An X user highlighted that during Ulbricht’s prosecution, the prosecution team suggested that he had allegedly hired individuals to carry out violent acts. Even though formal charges related to this allegation were never filed against Ulbricht, it remains an unproven claim.
Bhushan is a fintech enthusiast and has a good grasp of understanding the financial markets. His interest in economics and finance drew his attention to the newly emerging blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. He is in a constant process of learning and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In his spare time he reads adventure fantasy novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills.
More Read
Bitcoin Crypto Related Post
