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 operated the anonymous digital marketplace known as Silk Road when law enforcement arrested him. The pardon fulfills a campaign pledge Trump made to Ulbricht's Libertarian supporters.

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he had pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an underground website for selling drugs. Ulbricht had been sentenced to life in prison in 2015. Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media website, that he had spoken to Ulbricht’s mother on his first full day in office.

President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Ross Ulbricht, who ran the dark web marketplace Silk Road under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Ulbricht has been serving a life sentence without parole since 2015,

President Trump has followed through on one of his key campaign promises — at least for those in the crypto community — pardoning the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.

Ross Ulbricht had been sentenced to life in prison in 2015 after a high-profile prosecution that highlighted the role of the internet in illegal markets.

The pardon is a big deal for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and libertarians, who have been pushing for Ulbricht’s sentence to be absolved for years.

President Trump announced Tuesday that he signed a full pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of running the dark web marketplace used to deal drugs.

The news doesn't come as a surprise, however. Trump committed to the first-day pardoning of Ulbricht when speaking at the Libertarian National Convention in May 2024. The President said the decision to pardon the Silk Road founder was "in honor" of Ulbricht's mother, who had campaigned for his release.

President Donald Trump kicked off his second term with a flurry of executive actions on immigration, the economy, DEI and more.Legal challenges have already been mounted against his effort to end birthright citizenship and action that makes it easier to fire career government employees.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a full and unconditional pardon of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, which the president promised to do "on Day 1" while on the campaign trail.