Donald Trump has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for masterminding an online marketplace for illegal drugs and hacking services.
On his second day in office, the new president fulfilled a campaign promise that he would release Ulbricht, whose imprisonment over the past decade had become a leading cause for bitcoin evangelists and libertarian groups.
At Ulbricht’s trial, US prosecutors said he had built the anonymous marketplace, known as Silk Road, to exploit the anonymity of the dark web and the digital currency bitcoin. Supporters of Ulbricht had portrayed him as a victim of a government that was trying to turn web hosting into a criminal activity.