Trump Pardons Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht, Slams "Scum" That Worked To Convict Him

 Update (1900ET): Well it may not have been officially Day One but Trump kept his promise and just pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht after he spent 11 years in jail.

In a statement on Truth Social, President Trump said:

"I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross.

The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me.

He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!"

Promise made. Promise kept...

Ross was just granted a FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL PARDON by @realDonaldTrump. Words cannot express how grateful we are.

President Trump is a man of his word and he just saved Ross's life. ROSS IS A FREE MAN!!!!!

— Free_Ross (@Free_Ross) January 21, 2025

Here was Ross back in May when Trump made the promise...

Last night, Donald Trump pledged to commute my sentence on day 1, if reelected. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

After 11 years in prison, it is hard to express how I feel at this moment. It is thanks to your undying support that I may get a second chance.

— Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) May 26, 2024

*  *  *

"Ross will be freed too."

Those five words, posted by Elon Musk to his X account, sent the odds of a pardon for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht soaring to near certainty.

According to a contract on Polymarket, the odds of a Ulbricht pardon are now above 90%...

A petition calling for clemency for Ulbricht on freeross.org has gathered over 600,000 signatures since his incarceration.

The petition has garnered support from those who argue his life sentence is excessive and unjust, and from some bitcoiners that uphold Silk Road’s libertarian ideals.

As CoinDesk's Sam Reynolds reports, Trump first promised to pardon Ulbricht during a campaign stop at the Libertarian National Convention last May.

“If you vote for me, on Day 1, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served,” Trump said during a speech last year.

“He’s already served 11 years, we’re gonna get him home.”

“On day one, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht.”

— Trump pic.twitter.com/k9WV5i7lf5

— Alan ₿ Watts ⚡️ (@alanbwt) January 21, 2025

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015 for his role in the operation of the Silk Road marketplace, which pioneered the use of the dark web.

Supporters of Ulbricht say that his sentence was disproportionately long for the crime.

Elsewhere on the Polymarket pardon list is Roger Ver, an early bitcoin investor and bitcoin cash (BCH) advocate, who was indicted for tax fraud last April, and the market is giving a 32% chance of a pardon taking place in the first 100 days.

Despite crypto playing a prominent part of Trump's campaign, Polymarket bettors are only giving a 43% of a crypto executive order, regarding the use, trading, or legal status of digital assets, happening in the first week.

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/ross-ulbricht-pardon-odds-soar-polymarket-after-musks-comments

Sanara MedTech prelims

 Fourth Quarter Net Revenue Expected to Increase 45% to 48% Year-Over-Year; Full Year Net Revenue Expected to Increase 32% to 33% Year-Over-Year

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/01/21/3013057/0/en/Sanara-MedTech-Inc-Reports-Unaudited-Preliminary-Results-for-the-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2024.html

Davos Shocker: Countries Around The World Eyeing Bitcoin Strategic Reserves Thanks To Trump

 In a development once deemed unimaginable, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed on Tuesday that finance ministers attending the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, are showing increasing interest in establishing their own Strategic Bitcoin Reserves. According to Armstrong, this growing momentum appears to be inspired by the United States' consideration of a similar initiative.

Coinbase CEO @brian_armstrong reveals finance ministers at Davos 2025 have expressed growing interest in establishing their own Strategic Bitcoin Reserves, inspired by the U.S. considering the move. pic.twitter.com/yXxM8Z11Hn

— CAPITAL (@capitalnewshq) January 21, 2025

ANDREW SORKIN: Take us inside the room. What was the feeling? We watched the crypto ball and everything also. There seems to be a full-on sea change in Washington about your world.

BRIAN ARMSTRONG:  It's the dawn of the new day for crypto. The energy was palpable throughout the room. You have to remember the last four years we felt we were being attacked by the administration and they tried to weaponize the lack of clarity and the rules and push back on the good actors. There were bad actors, to be fair, but they were going after the good actors. We are ready for new rules.

ANDREW SORKIN: Did you expect an executive order yesterday? To the extent of Bitcoin prices is a signal of something.

BRIAN ARMSTRONG: It's been one day. I'm not too worried.

ANDREW SORKIN: What is the executive order you are looking for?

BRIAN ARMSTRONG: Directing the agency of the U.S. government to collaborate and look to clear rules passed. That would allow capital to flow into the United States and startups to be built there. Rearticulating the bill of rights with the self-custodial wallets. That was a big issue in the past four years as well. Operation Chokepoint 2.0. Those were some of the things that can be done with executive orders, it will really take congress.

ANDREW SORKIN: Can I ask about the choke point 2.0? The question is do you believe people were being quote/unquote debanked because they owned crypto at all or debanked because they were seen at those banks as a risk of some sort to the bank?

BRIAN ARMSTRONG: I think what happened is that the regulators likely cajoled by people like Elizabeth Warren applied a soft pressure to the banks and said we have concerns about crypto. Vague statements. Risk-based statements. If you are a bank CEO, that is hard to do if the regulator comes in and says we're uncomfortable with this. You say is it illegal? No, we're uncomfortable. That soft pressure was unlawful in my view was happening.

ANDREW SORKIN: This became a commotion in the last 48 hours about crypto. What is your feeling about the Trump family involvement in crypto and President Trump put out a meme coin that was at some point worth tens of billions of dollars. Melania doing the same. There are some people inside crypto who are very critical of those decisions because they look like an enrichment of the president.

BRIAN ARMSTRONG: Look, I think anybody should be able to create a collectible or piece of artwork. There are lots of crypto commodities and hopefully securities in the future. These meme coins are something anybody should put out there. We don't recommend one asset. We look at the standards and let the market decide.

ANDREW SORKIN: The concept of a memecoin. Is that good or bad for crypto? If enough people participate and lose, because more people lose than win, and the fact that the president of the United States and his family involved in the project, does that concern you?

BRIAN ARMSTRONG: A lot of technology looks like a toy. Think about the early internet and people were putting animated gifs and things with cats. It turned out to be much more important than that. You have to be cautious. With meme coins, it is not something I'm trading all the time. I'm not particularly interested in it. It could evolve into something powerful. You have to keep an open mind. I think everybody should have the right.

REBECCA QUICK: The disappointment that's being read into the price of crypto today. It's not down all that much. People are saying there's disappointment because he didn't enact on day one. If you look at crypto's price since his election, bitcoin's price since his election, it's up almost 50%. I wonder how much of the positive news is baked into what you are seeing in the price of bitcoin? What you are seeing from here in terms of bitcoin's growth or volatility that could come with that? A lot of the positive news is already recognized from the moment he was elected?

BRIAN ARMSTRONG: We have seen an incredible growth and it hit an all-time high yesterday. We feel very good about that. I think over time, bitcoin will get in the millions price range. It is adopted by more and more customers. ETF with the inflow. If we get clear legislation in the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. If the U.S. started, the rest of the G20 would follow. I discussed with leaders from different countries around the world, they are getting more interested in it because the U.S. is looking into it.

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/davos-shocker-countries-around-world-eyeing-bitcoin-strategic-reserves-thanks-trump

Mass deportations coming to NYC soon as border crackdown underway: Malliotakis

 Mass deportations are coming to New York City as soon as President Donald Trump’s long-promised crackdown on illegal migrants gets underway, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis has warned.

The Republican, who reps Staten Island and Brooklyn, told NY1 that the Big Apple is among the first sanctuary cities the feds will target amid Trump’s push to boot illegal migrants from the country.

“I met with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director] Tom Homan a couple weeks ago,” Malliotakis said in an interview right after Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Mass deportations are coming to New York City soon as President Donald Trump’s long-promised crackdown on illegal migrants gets underway, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis warned.G.N.Miller/NYPost

“Chicago is first, but New York will be right after that. So, I don’t know exactly how many days it will take.

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“It’s focused on criminals. They are focusing on the cartels, the gang members, the sex traffickers, on the drug traffickers,” she added. “They want these dangerous people in this country removed. And so do my constituents.”

Deportation raids had reportedly been slated to kick off in Chicago as early as Tuesday — but they were put on hold at the last minute in a bid to restore an element of surprise, several law enforcement sources told The Post.

The development came after The Post had earlier revealed ICE was planning a “big f—king operation” in sanctuary cities, including the Big Apple, when Trump assumed office once again.

Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said the city would cooperate with the feds amid any planned raids in a bid to rid the city of violent criminals — but stressed the Trump administration was responsible for immigration policies.

“There’s no restriction for the NYPD to coordinate with the various task forces around criminality. There’s no restrictions. Nothing has changed there. We’re going to continue to collaborate with, all of our federal partners. When it comes down to illegal behavior,” Hizzoner said a day after attending Trump’s inauguration in Washington.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said the Big Apple is among the first sanctuary cities the feds will target amid Trump’s push to boot illegal migrants from the country.X / @NMalliotakis

Adams insisted he has been clear in the past that “those who commit violent crimes in our city have violated their right to be in our city and in our country.”

“We’re going to continue to collaborate with ICE around criminality,” he said, adding that the federal government is “responsible for immigration policies.”

It comes after Homan, Trump’s border czar, pinned the Chicago delay on a leak — arguing there was no change to the overall crackdown plans.

“We’re not reconsidering any operations, there was a leak in Chicago so we’re looking at that leak and finding out how’s that affect officer safety concerns. Chicago’s not off the table, but we’re reconsidering when and how we do it,” Homan told Fox News on Sunday.

“When those bad guys have a heads-up that we’re hitting you at this time this day, it raises officer safety concerns.”

https://nypost.com/2025/01/21/us-news/mass-migrant-deportations-coming-to-nyc-soon-as-trumps-border-crackdown-gets-underway-ny-rep-warns/