Donald J. Trump has promised to commute Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht's life sentence to time served if he is re-elected president.
“If you vote for me, on day one, we'll commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence to time served,” Trump said in a Saturday night speech at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. “He's already served 11 years. We're going to bring him home.”
“I am very positive and open-minded about cryptocurrency companies and everything related to this new and fast-growing industry. Our country must be a leader in this field. There can be no second place,” Trump wrote, while President Joe Biden said: [the cryptocurrency industry] A slow and painful death. That will never happen to me!”
During his evening speech, Trump vowed to free Ulbricht, drawing loud cheers from the assembled crowd, many of whom held signs reading “Free Ross.”
Ulbricht has become something of a martyr for many in the cryptocurrency community, and also for many libertarians, who see his harsh sentence as an overreach of government power and a violation of constitutional rights. In 2018, the Libertarian Party Called At the time, President Trump called for Ulbricht to be pardoned.
President Trump granted 143 pardons before his term ends in January 2021. He pardoned 73 people, including Ripple director Ken Carson, and commuted the sentences of 70 others. He did not pardon Ulbricht, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, or Edward Snowden, who leaked details of US surveillance programs to American journalist Glenn Greenwald.
President Trump also made more general comments about cryptocurrency at the convention, telling attendees, “Stop Joe Biden's anti-cryptocurrency bid. We're going to stop it.”
“I will ensure that the future of cryptocurrency and bitcoin is built in America, not shipped offshore. I support the right to self-custody,” Trump said to cheers. “To the 50 million cryptocurrency holders across the country, I say this: I will steer Elizabeth Warren and her allies away from Bitcoin, and I will never support the creation of a central bank digital currency.”
