Money Grab/Pardon donors and drop cases against friends
Trump pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, keeping a pledge to crypto backers
On January 21, 2025, Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to the founder of the Silk Road dark-web marketplace. He had promised the clemency at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention while seeking crypto-industry support. The industry spent more than $100 million on the 2024 election.
What happened
Ross Ulbricht built Silk Road, a dark-web marketplace where drugs and other illegal goods were bought and sold for bitcoin. In 2015 a federal jury in Manhattan convicted him of narcotics distribution, running a continuing criminal enterprise, computer-hacking conspiracy and money-laundering conspiracy. A judge sentenced him to two life terms plus 40 years.
In May 2024, at the Libertarian National Convention, Trump promised to commute Ulbricht’s sentence on his first day in office. He was seeking that party’s and the crypto industry’s support. The crypto industry’s Fairshake network of super PACs went on to report about $195.8 million in spending across the 2024 cycle.
On January 21, 2025, his second day back in the White House, Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon. It erased the convictions rather than shortening the sentence. He announced it on Truth Social after telephoning Ulbricht’s mother.
Who benefited
Ulbricht walked out of a double life sentence after more than 11 years, with his convictions erased. The Libertarian Party and the crypto industry had made his release a cause. They saw the promise kept within 48 hours of the inauguration.
Who wanted something
Libertarian voters and the crypto industry were the audience for the promise. Trump made it to the Libertarian convention while courting both. Crypto-aligned political committees were among the largest spenders of the 2024 election, and the industry spent more than $100 million on it.
Who lost out
Federal prosecutors lost a case they had won in 2015. The convictions by a jury, and a sentence upheld on appeal, were erased by a single signature. The pardon erased the convictions themselves, not only the sentence.
Why it matters
Trump promised the pardon in advance to a constituency whose support he was seeking, and delivered it as one of his first acts. The industry’s money went to campaigns and committees, not to Trump personally, so nothing is counted here.