The Silk Road founder could be one of the world's richest people if he gets his bitcoin back from the U.S government.

Until, of course, in 2013 the Silk Road was shut down by FBI agents and Mr Ulbricht, then 29 years old, was arrested in the science-fiction section of a San Francisco public library. In 2015, after a four-week trial,

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace where drug dealers and others conducted more than $200 million in illicit trade using bitcoin.

Donald Trump pardoned the creator of the world’s first dark-web drug market, who is now a libertarian cause célèbre in some parts of the crypto community.

Ulbricht, 40, was about 10 years into his life sentence for helming an online black market where drug dealers, money launderers, and traffickers used bitcoins to mask more than $214 million in illicit trades. (Ars thoroughly documented the Silk Road saga here .)

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.

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.

President Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road marketplace, delivering on a campaign promise he made to court the cryptocurrency community and libertarian voters.

Bitcoin soars to $108,899 on inauguration day, followed by Ross Ulbricht’s pardon, new SEC crypto regulations, legislative advances by Senator Lummis, and a violent attack on a Ledger wallet founder.

Former Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht receives presidential pardon while cryptocurrency researchers identify $47 million in dormant Bitcoin wallets potentially linked to him, sparking donations from supporters and raising questions about possible government seizure of Silk Road-related assets.

"Donald Trump is a man of his word," the Silk Road founder said in a video published on X hours after release from prison.