Ross Ulbricht’s Fate Now in Limbo as Trump’s Promise Sparks Controversy

The return of Donald Trump to the White House has reignited discussions surrounding Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous Silk Road marketplace, and the possibility of his release from prison.

Trump, who had pledged during his 2024 campaign to commute Ulbricht’s sentence, has yet to follow through on that promise since being sworn in earlier this week.

Trump has long been vocal about his intention to grant Ulbricht clemency. In a statement last year, the former president vowed:

“If you vote for me, on day one, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht,” speaking to the Libertarian National Convention in May.

However, despite his return to office and a flurry of executive actions on immigration, federal executions, and the Capitol riot, Ross Ulbricht remains incarcerated with no sign of a pardon or sentence commute.

While it remains unclear when or if Trump will act on his promise, tech billionaire Elon Musk has expressed confidence that Ulbricht’s sentence will be commuted in the near future.

Ross Ulbricht was convicted in 2015 for his role in operating Silk Road, an online marketplace that used Bitcoin for transactions, enabling the sale of illegal drugs.

Though Ulbricht himself did not directly sell the narcotics, the platform facilitated over $1.2 billion in Bitcoin transactions before its shutdown in 2013. The 26-year-old former Eagle Scout was arrested that same year at a San Francisco library, where FBI agents seized his laptop.