James Cirrone

Ross Ulbricht has officially been behind bars for ten years, a grim milestone for the Silk Road founder who is serving a double life sentence — plus 40 years — without parole.



His X account, updated with his fiancée’s help, reminded the world of his conviction with a Sunday evening <a href="https://twitter.com/RealRossU/status/1708605103044010424?s=20">post</a>.&nbsp;



“I sometimes fear I&#8217;ll spend the rest of my life behind concrete walls and locked doors. But I have no one else to blame. It&#8217;s my poor choices that led me here,” the post read. “All I can do now is pray for mercy.”



Ulbricht, now 39, created the Silk Road online marketplace, named for the ancient Eurasian trade route, back in 2011. Modeling itself after eBay, Silk Road offered users the ability to transact anonymously with one another using bitcoin.&nbsp;



The site, which was accessible through Tor, facilitated sales totaling 9.5 million bitcoin (valued at $1.2 billion at the time of transaction) from February 2011 to July 2013, according to a 2013 FBI <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140220003018/https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/UlbrichtCriminalComplaint.pdf">criminal complaint</a> against Ulbricht.&nbsp;



Ulbricht thought of himself as an “idealistic libertarian” and a passionate advocate for free markets. He alleges that ideology inspired him to create an online marketplace based on the non-aggression principle. It would allow users to buy and sell anything they desired, even if the items would be harmful to the buyer, so long as no third party was harmed in the process. Ulbricht claims that the site <a href="https://freeross.org/what-was-silk-road/#ProhibitedItems">worked to prohibit</a> numerous items falling outside of this criteria, including child pornography, acts of violence-for-hire, stolen property, and anything used to “harm or defraud” others.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/doj-bitcoin-silk-road-mempool">DOJ gets Silk Road coins worth $305M stuck in Bitcoin mempool</a>



But rather than becoming a hub for the free and anonymous sale of books, art, clothing and electronics — the kinds of items Ulbricht <a href="https://freeross.org/case-overview/">claims</a> he intended the site to be for — Silk Road became synonymous with the illegal drug trade.



US authorities shut down Silk Road in October 2013, and the FBI arrested Ulbricht on Oct. 1, 2013. The government also <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/silk-road-founder-wants-30-million-bitcoin-us-govt/">seized</a> 144,336 BTC, worth about $30 million at the time.



Ulbricht was later <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/artifacts/ross-william-ulbrichts-laptop#:~:text=A%20judge%20sentenced%20Ulbricht%20to,digital%20currency%20from%20this%20case.">convicted</a> of drug trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering in February 2015. He was sentenced to life in prison on May 29, 2015.



“Ross has expressed heartfelt remorse for creating Silk Road and accepts responsibility for the mistake he made. Although he never intended harm, he has learned how even well-meaning and idealistic actions can have unintended consequences,” a blog post on freeross.org <a href="https://freeross.org/case-overview/">stated</a>.&nbsp;



The remorseful tone that Ulbricht has struck has, at times, been shared by Sam Bankman-Fried — <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sam-bankman-fried-trial-starting-soon">whose trial is set to begin Tuesday</a>, days after Ulbricht’s tenth year of incarceration. The two share additional commonalities.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-government-dumps-bitcoin-silk-road">US government dumps bitcoin stolen from Silk Road, $1.2B to go</a>



Both were major figures in the crypto space, though Ulbricht was involved at a time when bitcoin was much more under the radar. While they were in the public eye, both Bankman-Fried and Ulbricht were young, idealistic and were ultimately accused of some similar crimes, including money laundering.&nbsp;



Notably, there is no equivalent movement behind the former leader of FTX to free him from jail or to drop the charges against him like there is with Ulbricht. A Change.org petition requesting clemency for the Silk Road founder has garnered over half a million signatures.



While Ulbricht was initially accused by the US government of involvement in several sensational and violent crimes, including a murder-for-hire plot, he was never formally charged with any violent crimes in court.



Ulbricht claims these allegations are false and that he never planned a hit against anyone. Prosecutors went <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160305020239/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/21/silk-road-founder-held-without-bail">on the record</a> in 2013 saying they believed none of the alleged killings transpired.



There have also been complaints that Ulbricht’s sentence is disproportionate when compared to others involved with Silk Road and subsequent “darknet” marketplaces.



For example, Cornelis Jan “SuperTrips” Slomp, who made a name for himself as the most prolific drug dealer on Silk Road, was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in May 2015. In 2021, he was granted a compassionate release due to Covid-19 nearly six years into his sentence, according to <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/4adjaw/i-made-millions-selling-drugs-online-then-it-all-came-crashing-down">Vice</a>.



The two men who tried to resurrect Silk Road — Blake Benthall and Thomas White — also received much lighter scrutiny than Ulbricht. White was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/apr/12/uk-man-jailed-guiding-mind-behind-silk-road-drugs-site-dark-web">sentenced</a> to over five years in prison by UK authorities in 2019 for his role in operating Silk Road 2.0. Benthall was charged in November 2014 but is <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/nea4kw/silk-road-2-admin-defcon-blake-benthall-tax-crimes-cooperate">believed</a> to have avoided prison time over Silk Road 2.0 due to a guilty plea that requires him to cooperate with law enforcement.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Silk Road founder notes 10 years in prison on eve of Bankman-Fried trial

Casey Wagner

The US government sold off more than 9,800 BTC connected to the Silk Road darknet marketplace for about $215 million earlier this month, a court filing released Friday shows.&nbsp;



James Zhong pleaded guilty to hacking Silk Road in 2012 and stealing more than 50,000 BTC (worth less than $1 million at the time), which the government <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/us-government-now-has-more-btc-than-largest-crypto-holders" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seized in November</a> 2022.&nbsp;



“In total from the Zhong investigation, the Government has obtained final orders of forfeiture for approximately [51,680.32 BTC], valued at over $3.4 billion at the time of seizure,” the court filing noted.&nbsp;



On March 14, the government sold about 9,861.2 BTC for around $21,800 per token. On this date, bitcoin was trading on most exchanges at a high of around $26,500 and a low of around $24,000, according to <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blockworks Research</a>.



Government officials racked up more than $215,000 in transaction fees for the sale, court documents note. Officials added that they plan to sell the remaining 41,500 BTC ($1.2 billion) in a series of four batches this year. The method of sale wasn’t disclosed.



It is not the first time the US has sold off seized crypto. In 2014, officials unloaded around 30,000 BTC, also taken in connection with Silk Road, to venture capitalist Tim Draper.&nbsp;



The BTC was valued at around $17 million at the time of the auction, but today would be worth more than $850 million. A <a href="https://jlopp.github.io/us-marshals-bitcoin-auctions/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dashboard</a> tracking US government bitcoin auctions estimates more than $5 billion has been left on the table by selling BTC too early.



Bitcoin was trading about 1% higher Friday afternoon in New York following the release of the court filing, hovering around $28,450.



US authorities shut down Silk Road in October 2013, arresting maintainer Ross Ulbricht. He was given a double life sentence two years later without possibility of parole.



Updated Mar. 31, 2023 at 12:10 pm ET: Added auction dashboard.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



Get alpha directly in your inbox with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/research">0xResearch newsletter</a> — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.



The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Subscribe to daily Solana news</a> from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

US Government Dumps Bitcoin Stolen From Silk Road, $1.2B To Go

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_61b386f78fbd6" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>A group of 1,320 crypto investors, who formed the FreeRossDAO, raised over $12 million to win the auction</li>
 <li>Proceeds from the NFT auction will go towards charity, according to Ulbricht</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ross Ulbricht, a renowned bitcoin proponent who was sentenced to life in prison after founding controversial e-commerce website Silk Road, sold his first NFT at auction for $6.3 million worth of ether on Thursday.&nbsp;



&#8220;I am floored,&#8221; Ulbricht <a href="https://twitter.com/RealRossU/status/1469373599417053186?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> on his account run by a loved one on Friday. &#8220;I feel like I have a new purpose now. The auction exceeded all expectations.&#8221;



Over a thousand crypto investors, dubbed the FreeRossDAO, galvanized to free Ulbricht, raising over $12 million to win the auction. The nascent DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, used half the funds raised for the blockchain-based digital collectible.



“This is just the beginning,” the DAO said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/FreeRossDAO/status/1468902274256756740?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a>. “Buying this NFT has not freed Ross. We still have a long way to go to seek justice and rectify his disproportionate sentence of double life imprisonment as a first-time, non-violent offender.”&nbsp;



The DAO, which formed on Dec. 2 after the NFT collection was <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/the-incarcerated-silk-road-founders-nft-collection-and-the-dao-trying-to-save-him/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a>, describes its mission as “[uniting] in solidarity for Ross, gathering funds to buy his <a href="https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/ross-ulbricht-genesis-collection-30841" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Genesis Collection</a> and protesting the injustices of the American prison system.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



The leftover funds that weren’t spent in the auction will stay in the group’s treasury and be managed by contributors of the DAO. Members received a $ROSS token to vote on how funds will be used — necessary for the “autonomous” component of a functioning DAO.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Perspective_Ross_Drawing_HD-1-1024x744-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-12426" width="839" height="609"/><figcaption>“Perspective” is a graphite pencil drawing created in prison; Source: <a href="https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/ross-ulbricht-genesis-collection-30841" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection</a></figcaption></figure>



“We really want to get this bootstrapped, started and get the community together to essentially fight for the freedom of Ross but also to fight for fixing this broken prison system,” a member of the DAO, who goes by <a href="https://twitter.com/_jamiis?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Jamis”</a>, said in a Twitter space on Dec. 1.&nbsp;



The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection consists of artwork he has done as a child and later behind bars, which he described as a depiction of “his [life] story” in a <a href="https://rossulbricht.medium.com/my-nft-f2b4a9f1955c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post.</a>&nbsp;



Proceeds from the collection are going to charity, according to Ulbricht&#8217;s mother, Lyn. “Ross wants to use his art to help people. And we’re starting out with helping the incarcerated [and their families with] the suffering they go through,” she said in the same Twitter space.



<hr class="wp-block-separator">
Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.
<hr class="wp-block-separator">

Imprisoned Silk Road Founder Sold His First NFT for $6.3M to the DAO Trying to Free Him

<div id="highlights-block_61a93e5a988e1" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection consists of artwork Ulbricht has done behind bars and throughout his childhood</li>
 <li>The collection will be minted on Ethereum</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Ross Ulbricht, a renowned bitcoin proponent who was sentenced to life in prison after founding e-commerce platform Silk Road, is creating and auctioning off non-fungible tokens (NFTs).



The Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection consists of artwork Ulbricht has done behind bars and throughout his childhood, which he described as a depiction of “his [life] story” in a <a href="https://rossulbricht.medium.com/my-nft-f2b4a9f1955c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post.</a>&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Suddenly, sitting in prison, I had time for drawing again. I reconnected with my artistic side, producing illustrations that told the story I was going through,” Ulbricht said. “I was able to connect to those of you in the free world through my art. The isolation I felt was tempered by it.”&nbsp;</blockquote>



The collection of 10 NFTs will be minted on Ethereum and sold on <a href="https://superrare.com/artwork-v2/ross-ulbricht-genesis-collection-30841" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SupeRare’s</a> platform until next Wednesday. The highest bid for the auction (which started today) is currently at over $1 million worth of ether.&nbsp;



Silk Road holds a momentous position in the history of cryptocurrency, making Ulbricht a bitcoin hero to some and controversial to many.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Starting in 2011 and until his arrest in 2013, Silk Road allowed anonymous shoppers to buy anything, as long as it didn’t harm a third party, using bitcoin. Goods offered ranged from drugs, Fake IDs, art and more.&nbsp;



Ulbricht, whose story became the subject of <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31920777-american-kingpin" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road</a>, was eventually arrested in a San Francisco public library and later convicted of seven charges including conspiracy to traffic narcotics, conspiracy to computer hacking and money laundering by means of the internet.



Ross, a first-time offender, is serving a double life sentence plus 40 years, without the possibility of parole. This inordinately long sentence has galvanized supporters to find ways to help him and others like him who find themselves behind bars.



“In America, you&#8217;re not supposed to give a death in prison sentence in a situation where no one&#8217;s been prosecuted for inflicting any bodily harm,” his mother, Lyn Ulbricht, said in a Twitter space on Wednesday.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="460" height="330" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg" alt="Art by Ross Ulbricht" class="wp-image-12096" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=460 460w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=358 358w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=364 364w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=305 305w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/78994038-2B5D-4979-B8DB-BA331380CFA2_4_5005_c.jpeg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px" /><figcaption>Source: Ross Ulbricht</figcaption></figure></div>



According to Ulbricht’s mother, proceeds from the NFT auction will be donated to charity, specifically for “helping the incarcerated.”



“Ross wants to use his art to help people. And we&#8217;re starting out with helping the incarcerated [and their families with] the suffering they go through,” Lyn said, adding that funds could go toward helping family members visit those who are in prison.



In response to the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection, a group of crypto investors have banded together to form a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called <a href="https://freerossdao.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FreeRossDAO.</a>



The DAO, which was announced on Wednesday, will use part of its funds to collectively bid on Ulbricht’s NFT collection. The organization has over $1.5 million worth of ether in its treasury balance, according to its <a href="https://freerossdao.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>. (PleasrDAO seeded the FreeRossDAO multisig with 240 ETH.)



Multisigners for FreeRossDAO include Trippy, Trippy Labs/Chief Freeing Officer; Nadya Tolokno, of Pussy Riot fame and PleasrDAO; Jamis also from PleasrDAO; Cobie from UpOnly; Path, Superhero; René, a lifelong friend of Ross; Elliot, another friend of Ross and program director for Musicambia, an organization building music schools in prisons across the US.



“We really want to get this bootstrapped, started and get the community together to essentially fight for the freedom of Ross but also to fight for fixing this broken prison system,” a member of the DAO, who goes by <a href="https://twitter.com/_jamiis?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Jamis”</a> online, said in the same Twitter space on Wednesday.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



Get the day’s top crypto news and insights delivered to your inbox every evening.&nbsp;<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/newsletter/?source=end" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Subscribe to Blockworks’ free newsletter</a>&nbsp;now.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>