Former US President Donald Trump intends to support Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.
Ulbricht received a life sentence in 2015 for running Silk Road, a marketplace where users could buy illegal drugs and hacking tools using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin from 2011 to 2013.
Ulbricht is currently serving a life sentence in prison for his role in running the platform.
Trump has pledged to support Ulbricht as part of a campaign to appeal to Libertarian Party voters who have long called for his release and viewed his case as an abuse of government power.
The Republican candidate, facing four indictments,' newfound support for “all things related” to the cryptocurrency industry marks a shift from his previous skeptical stance.
“I am very positive and open-minded about crypto 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.”
Donald Trump, former US President
In a 2021 interview with Fox Business, President Trump, who is currently awaiting sentencing in his hush money criminal trial, asserted the primacy of the U.S. dollar and called for strict regulation of digital currencies.
However, following President Trump's recent vocal support for the cryptocurrency industry, several Trump-themed meme coins have skyrocketed in value.
Coins such as the “MAGA” token have been surging in value as investors speculate that a Trump presidency could benefit the crypto industry.
In a separate development, crypto investors who acquired a “mugshot edition” non-fungible token (NFT) of President Trump were offered the opportunity to dine with the former president at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The event further cemented Trump's ties to the cryptocurrency community and highlighted his willingness to engage directly with industry players.
The dinner was part of a special offer given to holders of a Trump-branded NFT featuring a photo of Trump's face as he turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia. The move was seen as a strategic effort by Trump to shore up support among crypto-savvy voters.
Additionally, President Trump has vowed to block the creation of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), appealing to crypto enthusiasts who value decentralization and autonomy.
Trump's bullish stance on cryptocurrencies coincides with his campaign's decision to accept donations in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other digital assets.
The move makes Trump the first major party candidate to welcome donations in the cryptocurrency, after independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been accepting Bitcoin donations for several months.
Trump and Ulbricht
Speaking at the Libertarian National Convention, President Trump promised to commute Ulbricht's sentence to the time he has already served if he was re-elected, drawing thunderous applause from the audience.
Ulbricht's case has attracted attention among self-identified liberals, with many arguing that the sentence was too harsh and that he was the victim of government overreach.
Ulbricht's appeal has been ongoing since 2016. His lawyers have argued that prosecutors illegally withheld evidence and that the sentence was procedurally and substantively unfair.
Despite these efforts, Ulbricht's conviction and sentence were upheld by the courts and he remains incarcerated.
Trump's promise to commute Ulbricht's sentence underscores a calculated attempt to win the support of what he sees as a key demographic in the next US presidential election.
