Topic: Ross Ulbricht is coming home in January! (Read 768 times)

Why does it make him any less of a criminal? He created a marketplace where people were selling drugs, were hiring hitmen and were spreading a wrong adult content. He knew that his market was used for that purposes, it's not like he was a believer of free market and didn't have a clue about all the dark things that was happening on his website. Yes, freedom is good but that kind of freedom doesn't bring any good to the society.

If you lend a gun to a murderer and you know it, you are more criminal. That's how I perceive it.

And that's stupid. That's basically a market without laws. What do you think about absolutely free world where no one gets punished for killing anybody? Do you vouch for such a free world where there is an absolute freedom? I don't get it why so many people advocate for him. And don't understand ever more, why Trump wants to free him and why was that a positive promise during election.

Politicians are mostly busy people, especially presidents and governors, That's why they have aides whose jobs is to remind them of things they ought to do. Trump is a great person and will make America great again.

the family are not posting a tweet to say that trump has signed an order and its happening.. they are posting a tweet about the HOPE that he will fulfil the promise. they are reacting to election result not any signed executive order

again, take a reality check. trump has not signed any executive order, nor wrote any pardon, nor petitioned the prison/court to commute the sentence..
so he cant be guaranteeing the release

also the tweet makes no mention of any phone call to the family.. that is just your fantasy

all the family are doing is reacting to the election result.

i do find it funny that you think after winning the election the first thing you think trump wants to do is phone a family of a prisoner, when odds are the first thing he would rather do is phone up the nearest strip club and hire the top talent on the dance stage to celebrate with him

Silk road actually carried out illegal business that led to the attention of FBI. Drugs trafficking is a terrible crime and building a website that facilitates the sell of hard substances and keeping them anonymous is breaking the law. But in Ross' case he received a greater punishment, placing him on 2 life sentences without Parole is an unfair judgement.

He deserves a chance. That's why his team have been fighting for his freedom. Also the thousands of Bitcoin seized on the site is also with the Authorities. If Trump pardons him, the Bitcoin community will quite appreciate his kind gesture.

He made a website that allowed people to sell whatever illegal stuff they wanted to sell. He was aware of that, but does that mean that every person aware of a crime being committed should be charged for that crime? Let's say you know your neighbor is selling drugs and you do nothing. One day they knock on your door, he gets 10 years, you get 2 for not snitching. Would that be fair?

The way I see it, the sentence is too high, especially since first time offenders usually don't get life for similar crimes, even in the US.
Here in the EU if I were caught with drugs, I'd get suspended sentence. Caught selling? Probably a year if it's first time. Possibly an ankle monitor for a year, depending on the amount of drugs I'd have on me.
Caught selling a lot, like a truck full of drugs? That's 10 years maximum, no matter how much you're moving, as long as it's your first time.

That's the thing. Politicians are saying a lot when they are trying to be elected. It wouldn't be the first time some empty promises were made but once the election is over it's all forgotten.
Hopefully in this case Trump or whoever will have this decision to follow through will keep their word and make it happen. 12 years is more than enough for what happened there. Sure he did it, and that's a fact, but they way they handled the whole situation was very questionable, and I mean VERY.
Anyway, in around 2 months we and especially the Ulbricht family will know more. I hope all their hopes and prayers won't come crushing down.

Bro.

Nothing has been done yet.

I want Ross to be free as much as the next guy, but hold off the celebrations until he actually gets pardoned.

I do not trust promises from Trump. I want to see this happen first before I celebrate.

(It might help that RFK Jr. the libertarian is in the cabinet now, so maybe he might remind Trump in case he forgets, but I will not jump to conclusions just yet.)

People have been questioning the intergrity of politicians to keep their campaign promises after they win, now Trump, has an opportunity to proof that he is a politician that keeps to his words. Although I don't think that there is an official pronouncement from the trump, team about the release of Ross Ulbricht, but we're hopeful that it will happen. Next stop for many bitcoiners is about Gary Gensler, but from what I understand his tenure is almost rounding up, so one way or another he'll be moving on soon. Our main concern as bitcoiners is for favorable regulations towards Bitcoin during Trump's administration. America, is like the big brother when it comes to global matters and their government being pro Bitcoin will go a long way for it globally.

Ser, it's not that I got the "news" from a middleman. It's straight from the horse's mouth. In your personal opinion, OK, you can say that it might not be "newsworthy". BUT how can you actually say that it's not newsworthy for me or other people in BitcoinTalk?

It might be wishful thinking, or it might also be a phone call received from the president. This is what the Ulbricht Family said,


Why would they say that Ross is coming home in January if there wasn't an assurance from "someone"?

so you nor others know for a fact....
.. then its not a fact, thus not newsworthy to use them as a source of fact

they are just wishful thinking much like others based on (1) trump empty promise pledge (2) trump winning election

where they put 1+2 together and hoping it =3 when they are not realising (1) could be empty gesture of just ()=0

You don't need the "news". That post is directly from an account owned by some from Ross Ulbricht's family, perhaps his mother. It's straight from the horse's mouth. The "news" will come from what the Ulbricht Family will have to announce, and therefore if they announce that Ross is not coming home in January, then that's "new news".

But they probably received a call from Trump before they made the post in X.

At this point, Trump would have too much reputation to lose by not freeing him; Ross has too large a following for it to slide under the carpet.

So I think we can bet Ross will be free from hell in couple months.

I'm more excited on this one than Ross being released.

Kidding aside, I'm excited with both events and when this happens, expect a surge in the price of Bitcoin and that includes the top altcoins as well. What I see now is that every fulfilled promise by Trump will have a positive effect towards Bitcoin hence, an increase in price might happen. Nevertheless, it's been 12 months since Ulbricht has been on jail.  On the flip side though, this is just a random tweet coming from a random handle hence, I'm not convinced that Ross will be released 2 months from now.

Although I believe that he will since Trump promised it, I guess it would be better if Trump himself, or some trusted officials out there will be the one who will make the tweet, right?

Could you please refer to any print media? I don't want to rely on tweets right now. I don't want to rely on just promises. I want to see Ross free and then I will believe what they have said. It's 10th November already and we are not too far. We will have to wait 50 more days if this is a piece of true news. But, before hoping for all this, I want to see some official statement from Trump.

I won't say I like Trump a lot. I do not like politicians. But if some of them help Bitcoin, help humanity, and help stop war, then they will have my support and love. I hope Trump will think about the war happening in the Middle East and other sides of the world.

Edit: Never mind. I found some news.

about time!!

Agreed on the argument. However, he is being given more attention not because he is innocent, this is because the American government and the mainstream news media created a very big storyline about the Silkroad and Ross Ulbricht that he is the most evil devil from hell which clearly is fake news. The government created their own horror story.

Also on more people in prison that are innocent, do not bring race in the argument because this is not the fault of Ross. This is the fault of the American justice system.

Yes, this is a major problem too. There are lots of campaigns for these people, but here we're in a Bitcoin forum and thus here the focus is on Bitcoin-related issues.

Even if my preference indeed is that the draconian US sentences should be generally reduced (see last part of my other post), I don't see why one shouldn't be allowed to celebrate the release of a person convicted to an extreme sentence.

A release could actually raise awareness about the problem of extreme sentences. There is of course the danger that people concentrate too much on the single event (in this case Ulbricht's release), and thus I actually don't completely disagree with you on the matter. There should be a more general discussion about the issue.

Silk Road had actually some terms of service: they didn't allow weapons, abuse imagery and items to defraud other people on the platform (stolen payment means etc.). Basically the main products were drugs. There are lots of countries currently re-evaluating if the drug ban makes sense if on the other side you have far more deaths due to tobacco and alcohol, which are among the most harmful drugs. One can also sustain the opinion that people who want to harm themselves should be allowed to and should not be criminalized.

So I don't think that really Ulbricht was the main reason for the "Bitcoin is for criminals" slogan. I believe malware has contritbuted a lot more to that perception. Bitcoin ransomware is a newer phenomenon and afaik malware was also not permitted on Silk Road (I never used that platform, just to clarify, just judging from media and forum discussions).

I disagree here. Sentences over 10 years should only exist for violent crime (murder, rape, mutilation, genocide ...). And in many countries this is actually the case, even if some also include treason and similar crimes into the "near-life sentence" crimes, which is also bad imo.

That's also why I don't have much hope that there will be really a discussion about the problem of extreme prison sentences under Trump, so I partly agree here. I generally don't believe the support for Ulbricht from Bitcoiners has racist origins though. He's just a quite well known figure.

There are lots of "legal" things which are much worse than illegal drugs, including "legal" drugs like alcohol and tobacco which kill literally millions per year and governments often even cooperate with the lobbyists of the companies making profits with these products. But that's just my personal opinion.

when it comes to politics, and their pre-elecct promises..  never celebrate a pledge until you see it happen
wait untill ross actually stands outside the prison before celebrating..

alot of trumps promises never came true in the past. trump has many times promised his investors that he was rich and successful, but then filed for bankruptcy.
even after pledging to build the wall, the wall is not complete 4 years later..

so if you want to pretend its a sure thing, and a sure thing to happen in january..  then you have too much faith in a fake tanned bleached hair old guy in politics

but lets see how many promises he actions or fails at, starting with how soon after the january 20th swearing in that it takes ross to get to see the outside of prison
(personally i dont see ross as a good face of bitcoin as im anti drug, anti hitman hiring.. but no one was murdered and he didnt personally use a needle in other peoples arms, so 12 years is a bit much for just running a service promoting drugs)

...

side note, it would be funny and a good poke if biden releases ross before january 20th just to make it so that it wasnt trump that got to do it,

It was not just a website... His site facilitated the sale of illegal drugs and other substances. He was fully aware of that and in fact built the site for that express purpose.

He deserves to remain in prison for the full terms of his sentence.

I hope this ends well for Ross, and it gives me a bit more confidence because this post was twitted from his account.
It was about time for this to happen after he spent 12 years in high security prison for creating a website.
However, I have reservations until I see official confirmation from officials and/or president.

I wish this was true, however during his first election campaign he praised many people such as Wikileak's Julian Assange but never pardoned them. He also never pardoned Edward Snowden although he revealed the secret operations of what they refer to as the "deep state", and which Trump's team claim they despise.

Ross Ulbricht family have reasons to believe in Trump's promise and keep up their hope. Trump has yet taken over the White House and in about 70 more days, he will be there after his Presidential Inauguration.

Will Ross Ulbricht be actually freed out of prison next year in January or even later months?

Soon we will know about it and I remember that in one rally, Trump said with a man (maybe a dad) of a dead soldier, that he will lead investigation on reasons behind that death. But he emphasized that he will not do it on Day One, because he already had a lot of things for Day One. Let's wait for what Trump will do and how many promises he will keep to complete for his supporters in many rallies before the Election.

Maybe this article would give information regarding on his situation https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/11/08/cybercriminal-ross-ulbrichts-family-says-hell-be-freed-in-january-heres-what-we-know/

Now people wait for that promise to happen and we maybe could see if that promise is true if we able to hear another news that Ulbricht is finally out of the prison.

To many promise made by Trump and let see if he could able to make this one to happen.

Sarcasm from who? Me? Or the Ulbricht Family's post in X? It's not sarcasm from me, and why would the Ulbricht Family post that Ross is going home in January if they didn't believe that it will happen?

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The U.S. president-elect may have given the Ulbricht Family a call and assured them that Ross will be going home in January, no?

No doubt about that and I feel all this promises he's trying to fulfill is a strategic attempt to make people forget or not pay too much attention if he doesn't get to be able to finish the rest of his campaign promises.

Before Trump promised to commute the jail term of  Ross Ulbricht, I am sure he was aware of his crime. I don't think he deserves the punishment and I know it will not be a big deal to get him out if Trump has the willpower to do it. The process of getting him released might take some time, so we might not be expecting him released by January. We expect Trump to keep his promise and start the process as soon as possible.     

Looks like that tweet expect Trump will deliver his promise, rather than it'll happen in January. After all, https://freeross.org/ doesn't make any statement about it.


Actually there are campaign and organization which specifically aim to free those innocent people. If you use keyword such as "organization wrongfully convicted" on Google, you can find few of those. Although i admit mention those are less frequently discussed or supported on social media.

Firstly, this thread is supposed to be moved to the politics and society section of the forum because even though Silk Road was used by Ross Ulbricht as a medium to make bitcoin transactions on the site but i don't think that this discussion is related to bitcoin but rather about a probable pardon that Donald Trump want to give to Ross William Ulbricht after he has already spent 12 years in prison upon being convicted to double life imprisonment including 40 years jail term.

For me, even though Donald Trump promised to release him but i feel that his charges are too severe for the government to consider granting him pardon and besides, people are just exaggerating about his possible release in January when Donald Trump will be inaugurated but we should also have it in mind that it's not all campaign promises that will be kept. Finger crossed till January... But whether he is released or not, it doesn't call for overexcitement.

This isn't very clear to me. The tweet from his family is confusing as we don't know if they already spoke to Trump after his win or if they are trying to call his attention public and remind him of his promise.

The only advantage of this is not on Bitcoin but on Trump. That is more popularity aside this nothing may happen to bitcoin's price unless if in a public broadcast on this issue Trump mentions Bitcoin.

As for Ross, I guess he'd write a book, give few public lectures and advocate for the release of others who are truly illegal imprisoned for their involvement with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

I do think that him being in jail is justified and valid but maybe life imprisonment was too much. Crypto enthusiasts praised Silk Road because they think it was really the official start of crypto being legitimized in platforms as a currency. So, I get why they would admire Ross Ulbricht, but it is too much for us to ignore that he did in fact do illegal things which warranted him getting jailed.  

Maybe crypto enthusiasts think that his imprisonment is longer solely because there was crypto involved and that theory is not lost to me but he is still a criminal who has conducted criminal activity with or without crypto.
He would just be free of prison but would not be absolved of any of his crimes. and yes Trump can pretty much do anything so long as he wants to do it.

Over the years, I shake my head whenever I see any "freeRoss" campaign. There are actually innocent people in the US prisons who are actually innocent. Not like all of them are innocent entirely for they're innocent of the crimes they're in prison for. Research has shown that 4-6% of prisoners in the US are innocent of their crimes and even if you don't believe in this percentage, you can't argue with the fact that there are actually people who have been imprisoned unfairly for rape and murder.
Where are there no campaigns for these people? Simply because they're not popular.

Talking about reducing his sentence is one thing, releasing him is another and celebrating his release is a whole different thing.
It is because of people like these that Bitcoin has a bad name. This man created the Silk Road, which was used to trade all forms of illegal things anonymously, and all payments were made in Bitcoin. If anything, this alone should make the Bitcoin community against him because he's a bigger problem to Bitcoin than the politicians.
A federal agent found a way to infiltrate the site and became an admin on Silk Road, so they built a solid case around him. It's not like they were throwing bullshit charges on him. If you say a life sentence is too much for his crimes I might agree, but money laundry, distributing narcotics, computer hacking, and engaging in a criminal enterprise (in fact, he owned the criminal enterprise) should get you 15 to 20 years if we're being fair.

Now I'm going to talk about the part nobody likes to talk about.
Would he be shown this much love if he wasn't white? I mean, will Trump give 2 shits about him if he was a black man? This was the same man who immediately put ads out in newspapers for the death penalty to be returned to the state immediately after the central pack five were arrested.
After these boys served 10 to 13 years for crimes they did not commit, they were released after a man confessed to the crimes, in 2019 Trump still stood by his statement during that time that the boys were guilty and that they already confessed. A confession proved to be coerced out of the teenagers.
So why is such a man who doesn't believe people that people who have been proven innocent by the court after serving a decade for crimes they didn't commit is ready to release a man the court and evidence deemed guilty?

Cybercriminal Ross Ulbricht was jailed for life in 2015. Recently we saw on social media Twitter that his family mentioned that he will be released next January.
https://x.com/Free_Ross/status/1854560687713927541?t=KQWHKG8OEx3qb3oJkSoV1Q&s=19

They think that maybe Donald Trump will help Ross Ulbricht get out of jail. Maybe we don't know how honest it is. Because when Donald Trump was first elected president of the United States in 2017, he did not take any steps to get Ross Ulbricht out of jail. But now that he has taken steps to get Ross Ulbricht out of jail, is he taking this step to win his election.

Donald Trump must have mentioned Ross Ulbricht here, and the pledge crowd chanting for a free-for-all is hilarious. 
Because Ross Ulbricht has been in prison for a long time I certainly think he deserves to be released from the sentence now, because the screams and shouts of the audience must have created a mesmerizing atmosphere.

Video link: https://youtu.be/rlyDIVHC7iM?si=vrfqQIDmJjQ4x24v

It was clearly a tactic to get much of the votes from the bitcoin community and also clearly it has helped him have the victory on the elections hehehe. On being optimistic or not on this, I reckon Trump might get some difficulties on the pardon because it will not be a simple process very much on what he said that he will fire our favorite SEC chairman uncle Gary hehehe.

Didn't they already seized Ross's bitcoin when he was arrested? I remember that it was auctioned off at a really cheap price or that's a different bitcoin that got seized that got auctioned off. I guess there's some form of sympathy out there for dealers instead of the users, capitalism at its finest. Imagine the first thing that he does is do some stupid shit all over again, there's no way that the court of public opinion is going to let that slide.

If it is actually like this, he should be freed after 12 years in jail. Among the convictions he got, I see the worst one is with drug because drug addiction is always bad and it can destroy a person life, kill him or her and also brings lot of terrible effects to their families too.

Trump promised to commute Ulbricht’s sentence on “day one” and soon we will know what Trump does with Ross Ulbricht case.

I don't know but in many nation, Presidents have rights to set prisoners free. Probably it will be the same in the USA and Trump can do it for Ross Ulbricht if he sees it is a right thing to do. Further than that, like you said, if Trump wants to change criminal code, laws, it will be different thing that is bigger than just freeing Ross Ulbricht as a specific case.

OK, let's see what he was charged actually according to Wikipedia:

- "engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise"
- "distributing narcotics"
- "distributing narcotics by means of the internet"
- "conspiracy to distribute narcotics"
- "conspiracy to commit money laundering"
- "conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identity documents"
- "conspiracy to commit computer hacking"

First, a lot of these charges are quite redundant. Basically they convicted him for 1) drug dealing, 2) hacking, 3) money laundering and 4) "traffic fraudulent documents". And he probably didn't commit the crimes himself but tolerated them.

In most countries, none of these charges would give you more than 5 years, with the exception of drug dealing if it's related to gang violence. But ok, the US are special, they love their draconian punishments. They're one of only of a handful of developed countries retaining death penalty, and most developed countries also don't retain life imprisonment without parole.

Even 12 years is FAR too much for these charges. Life imprisonment is totally ridiculous, and without parole even more.

If Trump however was serious about that problem, he should convince his fellow Republicans in Congress to change the criminal code and lower the prison sentences for these charges. I don't exactly see a high probability for that, though.

Discussion about Ross Ulbricht time in prison and possible release is complicated.Some people think he was treated unfairly and should not be in prison while others believe he was found guilty of seven serious crimes. If he is released from prison it is important to remember how serious his crimes were. We should not celebrate his release without thinking about harm he caused.His case has big implication for law and any decision to pardon him would need to be thought carefully. Normally presidential pardons only happen under certain condition and only apply to federal crimes not crimes at state level.To have smart conversations about justice and accountability we need to understand details of Ulbricht case and what his release would mean.

The hope is founded upon the man's promise, a promise that was made publicly. Trump was president for 4 years, but Ulbricht's case wasn't special to him back then. It probably wasn't within his radar. In the first place, he was anti-Bitcoin at that time.

This time, it's different. He has already taken a U-turn, made pronouncements in support of Bitcoin. He strongly pledged in front of Bitcoin supporters that he'll release Ross on "day one".

This is now a waiting game. But, as history has taught us, a politician's promise should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Ross Ulbricht received a double life sentence and 40 years in prison without parole. He's already spent 12 years in prison, which is a very long time. Especially for someone who has never killed anyone. I hope Trump will keep his promise and free Ross Ulbricht. But I'm not optimistic about this. Trump has been president for 4 years before and he hasn't taken any action on this issue. Why would he do it this time?

I am upset that Trump won the US elections, but I do think that Ulbricht should not be in prison. I sincerely hope that Trump won't forget his pledge and will issue a pardon to free Ross. Ross getting arrested is actually how I found out about the existence of Bitcoin. It was big enough news to attract the attention of the media internationally in times when cryptos weren't actively discussed. I'm sure his release will be major news if it happens.

Why is this being celebrated? He was not imprisoned illegally. He committed crimes, and the court found him guilty. His release, however true, is not something that should be celebrated simply because he's your favourite. What kind of society are we if we start celebrating the release of criminals or celebrating when they evade the law? It doesn't make sense.
He was found guilty of seven charges, and two of those charges alone should result in a minimum of 15 years in prison.
We see this a lot with celebrities when they're charged. People just rally behind them without stopping to think if they're actually guilty.

I don't know how possible it is for Trump to release him because he can't overrule the court, unless its some sort of a presidential pardon, but even at that, certain factors are going to be met first.

Depending on the urgency of the promises that he has mentioned. If this is an urgent matter and important to him, he'd probably do that by the time he becomes the POTUS again.

For Bitcoin to soar, we have to see Gary get out of the SEC. They'll do better without him and the Trump administration better get rid of the obstacles including him.

Is this sarcasm or what? I don't see any official announcement where Ross Ulbricht will be released in January, it's just a hope for Donald Trump will release him.

It's not easy as that if you read this article https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/08/06/trump-says-he-would-fire-sec-chair-gary-gensler-on-day-one-its-not-that-easy/

I think Gary Gensler didn't make a fatal mistake which can bring him to get fired instantly, high likely Trump will say it's under progress and we have to wait for few years.

Trump can barely remember what he said minutes ago, much less what he said in July. I am sure there will be donors staying in touch with his handlers to remind them to put the papers on his desk. We're still waiting for Hillary to be locked up so I wouldn’t exactly be holding my breath expecting anything to happen. Campaign promises are worthless.

While I get your point, he only created a website with the intent of launching a truly Free Market.  A truly Free Market means no Censorship and there should be no exception to the rule.  Otherwise it becomes not so Free.

Now there are obviously other details to his case and I am not saying he is 100 percent not guilty, but I think we should not forget that all of us have the right to innocence unless proven guilty and, if you ask me, the way his case was handled is kind of weird at the very least.  It rather seems like he was framed than any thing else.

Not to mention the excessively large punishment he received for only launching a website.  I hate Craig Wright but I would not punish him or consider him a criminal for creating a Shit Coin with a Blockchain containing illegal stuff posted by other people.  He is a criminal for other reasons, but not this one.  Same with Satoshi creating Bitcoin which really can be used for Crime and no Bank or Authority could say no to such a Transaction because it is Free.  However, Satoshi is not to blame for that.

Frankly I highly doubt if Trumpalini will even remember Ross.
Personally I think he should remain in prison for running silk Road.

Uhhhhh Is this real, If so I cant wait for that hahahha Mr Gary already been a fire for the crypto community I don't know how much people get rekted because of this person hahah. Anyway, Congrat for the Ross Ulbricht.
But I am still wondering tho is there any list that Trump promises haha

What about the Ross bitcoin are the Us seized them all?

Trump promised to free Ross Ulbricht months ago in a Bitcoin Conference 2024 in July this year.

President Trump Repeats Pledge to Free Ross Ulbricht (7/27/24)
Trump Pledges to Free Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht If Re-Elected

People thought that it is one of his tools to buy votes from Bitcoin community and maybe more cryptocurrency communities. We will know that he will actually free Ross Ulbricht after his Presidential Inauguration Ceremony in January 2025.

Thats pretty huge that he even promised that from the start. It is cool seeing how Trump will pardon folks who have even made significant progress or aided the development of this highly advanced and modern technology aka Bitcoin. What will Ross do when he comes back and will he continue to play a role in Bitcoin in the future? I wonder what his welcoming home will bring back into the space.

Did Trump mention Ross Ulbricht after he won? I haven't kept myself updated, but I haven't observed any kind of excitement or something like that on social media about Ulbricht's release. Surely, there must be one if Trump indeed reaffirmed his commitment to release Ross on "day one" of his presidency.

However, there's nothing to be grateful to yet. It was a promise made while campaigning. It was certainly done to gain the votes of Bitcoin supporters who have always been fighting for Ross' release. But until Ross gets out of prison, that remains a pledge. A politician's promise, however, is often unfulfilled.

I read some short descriptions at https://freeross.org/ and see
It is a shady area for law interpretation and enforcement, and I know it is not how government see it, but if it is a reason for Ross Ulbricht to be free from prison in January 2024, how about mixers' founders and operators who were arrested and imprisoned?

They can be free too, but I really don't think Ross Ulbricht will be a case law in mixer industry. Governments globally don't like mixers and they will do everything to ban mixers and put mixers' founders and operators to jail.

It's logic that mixers are for everyone, privacy is for everyone, basic human rights, but it's hard to fight and get privacy back from governments.

Well let see its because right now this is what people look for, many are now watching him to perform or implement those plans he said to people. Allowing Ulbricht to get released would indicate that he is true to his word and also a good sign that his really for Bitcoin now.

So again lets follow up for more update regarding on this case since many people really believe that penalties given to that unfortunate guy is to much and many think that he already serve his sentence in prison.

Also reading this article written by coindesk https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/11/07/donald-trump-more-likely-to-pardon-jan-6-protestors-than-silk-road-founder-polymarket/ rise up the curiosity and discussion about what possible next step will happen in future.

This will undoubtedly be positive news, since if bitcoin3 was associated with the darknet, the sale of prohibited items and Ross Ulbricht, then Ulbricht's rehabilitation will automatically rehabilitate bitcoin (partially) as something "only associated with negative things" in the eyes of ordinary people.

He personally sold all this illegal stuff? I think this is an exaggeration, comparable to statements from the tabloids, which is a bit strange to hear from an old forum user.

Systemically, he was no different from Bezos, since he was not running a criminal enterprise, but an online trading platform. It's almost as if you were the owner of the premises and rented it out to a fruit and vegetable seller who sold illegal goods without your knowledge. You are not responsible for what this seller does, because you are only renting him the retail space.

It should also be noted that if Ross Ulbricht is soon released, then this is a sign that his punishment with life imprisonment was unjustified and excessive. Otherwise, if he was really guilty, everything would remain as is.

Let us not celebrate yet, until Ross Ulbricht gets the presidential pardon from Trump and returns home to his family after almost 12 years in prison. I am sure the community will put pressure to ensure Trump keeps true to his word.
Things don't work like that, it is unrealistic to think that kyc would stop being compulsory for centralized services or that the government will suddenly become friendly to BTC mixers or privacy in general.

Would believe when it happens.
Not a fan of drugs and not really a supporter but Ross case is evidence that the government can't bode well with decentralization.
I would love to see how Trump would allow regulations made by people that 'loves' Bitcoin without jeorpazing decentralization.
Is compulsory KYC going to be abolished? Would he pardon mixers?
If he can free Ross, There's a likelihood he might, again might fulfil some of its promises but...... Let's see.

The site was used to sell drugs, but he was not the seller. He only allowed others to do it. If you don't understand what the whole fuss is about, the penalty for selling drugs as first offense is under 15 years.
The man got life for allowing other people to do it, which should carry a lower sentence, just like lending someone your gun so he can murder a person will get you a smaller sentence as if you did it yourself.

Just do some research if you aren't sure  

The president of the United States is authorized by the U.S. Constitution to grant a pardon for a federal crime. The other forms of the clemency power of the president are commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve.[1] A person may decide not to accept a pardon, in which case it does not take effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_pardons_in_the_United_States

If Trump really releases Ross, Bitcoin will soar.     

Ross was a person who wanted to help people, anytime "someone" spoke with him, through Silkroad contact, he was always graceful and offered too much help. But this was very early on. He saved "someone" who fucked up during the first visit. :

He didn't  deserve what happened to him.

Ross, you deserve reparations. Hope to see you on this forum to inform us of the treatment you received, and maybe see if we can get a "go fund me" if you lost all.

I'm pleased to hear this. We can say Trump is a man of his words, he wasn't just acting like other politicians just to win votes, hope he meant everything he says. Now let's see what he does to make American great again and about that annoying man Gary Gensler.

Not sure if it is going to be positive or negative for the crypto world. Ross was imprisoned for running darknet website Silk Road which was actually selling narcotics and many other illegal stuffs. So I think that is life imprisonment is quite valid. He was running a criminal enterprise.

I am not sure if Trump will have any executive power to dismiss the decision made in a court. But if it happens, I will hope that Trump will fulfill his other promises he made before the election.

If Trump can get him out, then maybe all he promised during his campaign can happen, some of it probably. Gary Gensler's tenure will end this year or the next as I read in some comments. I guess it won't make a difference if he fires him or just lets him go in peace and finish his term.  

But yeah FREE Ross, 12 years seem too much for what he did. I'm starting to believe they are still trying to squeeze the private keys of Ross's wallet that's why he isn't pardoned.  

January is in two months. It will be such a headline when he is out.

Next pre-election promise to keep - Fire Gary Gensler.

Congratulations to Ross and the Ulbricht Family! After twelve years, ROSS can finally be with his loved ones, especially his MOTHER who has always been fighting for HIS freedom. Thanks to President Trump for keeping the most important pre-election promise for a person who was losing hope.