Nobody understands better than Trump how to manipulate public sentiment using political leverage.

Recently, Trump has been under some pressure. To circumvent presidential investment restrictions, on the eve of taking office, Trump and his wife directly issued a cryptocurrency, allowing their entire interest group to reap windfall profits at the fastest speed.

Many people in the crypto community who once supported him have publicly opposed this move. However, there is also a voice from those in the crypto circle who are dissatisfied with Trump's cryptocurrency issuance: "I can't forgive Trump for issuing a cryptocurrency on the eve of taking office, unless he pardons Ross Ulbricht tomorrow."

This is a manifestation of Trump's sophisticated political maneuvering. Facing pressure from the crypto industry, he immediately called Ross Ulbricht's mother and personally told her, who had been longing for her son's return for ten years, "I have just signed a full and unconditional pardon for your son Ross." Ross could go home.

Founder of Silk Road, Imprisoned for 11 Years, Released on Trump's First Day in Office

This was a promise Trump made during his campaign. He promised that if re-elected, he would commute Ross's sentence or even pardon him on his first day in office. Six months have passed since the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, and most of his promises made at the conference have been fulfilled: firing the current SEC Chair Gray Gensler, appointing a Bitcoin/cryptocurrency presidential advisory committee, commuting Ross's sentence or even pardoning him, and establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the U.S. government.

His words and actions seem to prove and suggest, "The promises I made during the campaign will be fulfilled one by one, and the next one might be the Bitcoin strategic reserve." The Bitcoin strategic reserve is undoubtedly the G-spot of the crypto industry. In this way, Trump has dissipated much of the anger in the crypto industry towards his cryptocurrency issuance.

For those who are far from the crypto industry, it may be difficult to understand why releasing Ross could quell the anger in the crypto industry towards Trump's cryptocurrency issuance that allowed interest groups to reap windfall profits.

Let's go back to 2011. Many significant events happened that year, such as the killing of Osama bin Laden and the death of Kim Jong-il. But there were also less significant events at the time, such as Bitcoin, which had just been born two years ago. Unlike today's price of ten thousand dollars per Bitcoin, in its first couple of years, Bitcoin was valued at only 0.1 cents per coin.

Although Bitcoin now seems to have a genius design, at the time, it was considered useless by most people. Until 2010, when Ross heard about Bitcoin from a client, it became a turning point.

Ross Ulbricht

In 2011, Ross founded the "notorious" dark web market "Silk Road." Silk Road did not trade tea, silk, or porcelain. It was the most famous and notorious dark web ever. The main trading items on this website were drugs, sex slaves, child pornography, private hitmen, arms trafficking, and identity fraud.

Screenshot of Silk Road Website, Source: Internet

To ensure anonymity, Ross designed it to be accessible only through the Tor onion router (inaccessible by search engines and only accessible through special software) and used Bitcoin as the only medium of exchange. The government's crackdown on illegal activities focuses on the supervision of funds, with the banking system at its core, which is firmly controlled by the government. Bitcoin is a payment tool independent of the banking system - to this day, banks and Bitcoin operate in separate spheres.

With the rise of Silk Road, Bitcoin finally found its first application scenario - as a payment tool for criminal transactions. Data shows that over 9.5 million Bitcoins were circulated on Silk Road, accounting for 80% of the Bitcoin circulation at the time.

For his real-life friends, Ross said his job was "creating an economic simulator" aimed at eliminating coercion and aggression between people using economic theory, allowing people to experience firsthand what it's like to live in a world without systemic force.

Nobody could have imagined that this usually sunny and motivated boy would become a major drug lord and the creator of an underground evil world. But there are no walls that don't leak wind. Several regulatory agencies had already targeted him, and even an FBI spy befriended him for three years.

Ross Received a $1 Billion Acquisition Request Email from an FBI Spy, Source: Internet

The Drug Enforcement Administration traced Ross's identity through the internet, and the FBI's moment of capturing him was also dramatic.

In October 2013, while Ross was freeloading Wi-Fi at a bookstore, the arrest took place. To prevent Ulbricht from deleting or encrypting relevant files on his laptop, a pair of agents pretending to be a couple walked past him and loudly argued nearby.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Distracted, Ross turned around to look at them. Just then, an agent quickly grabbed his computer, and two other agents tackled him to the ground and arrested him. The agents inserted a USB device into the computer and copied key files through software. At that time, Ross was logged in to the Silk Road administrator account on his computer.

On August 21, 2014, Ross was formally charged with money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to distribute drugs. On February 4, 2015, he was convicted of all charges. On May 29, 2015, the court sentenced Ross to double life imprisonment with no parole for 40 years.

It can be conclusively stated that Ross is an extremely important figure in the history of Bitcoin's development. When Bitcoin was about to be ignored by the world, he ended Bitcoin's history as a toy and gave it meaning in the real world - serving crime.

Just as the consensus of fools is also a consensus, black market demand is also demand. Driven by criminal transactions, Bitcoin experienced its first surge, reaching 31inJune2011.TwomonthsafterRoss′sarrest,Bitcoinroseto1,100 per coin.

Due to his practice of libertarianism, during the 11 years Ross spent in prison, there has been widespread support for leniency in society, including within the crypto industry. Many people from both parties also believed that Ross's sentence was unfair and that he deserved a second chance. Over 250 organizations, celebrities, and leaders have expressed support, with over 600,000 people signing a petition for Ross's release.

Today, as Trump's Campaign Victory Odds Climb on Polymarket, Most Believe Ross May Receive a Commutation or Pardon

Similarly, on Polymarket's betting topic about "Who will Trump pardon within 100 days of taking office?", the likelihood of Ross being pardoned is very high. The odds have been rising, and for a long time, the probability of Ross being pardoned was 73%.

Two life sentences plus an additional 40 years of imprisonment were indeed too heavy for the then 26-year-old who was arrested.

Today, the price of Bitcoin is $105,247, and the United States has welcomed its first "Bitcoin" president. Ross, who has been in prison for 11 years and is now 41 years old, finally walks out of prison and laughs freely in front of the camera