United

Silk Road

<div class="finbold"> 
 <p class="paragraph">Ross Ulbricht is celebrating his 40th <a rel="dofollow" title="birthday" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/birthday.html">birthday</a> in <a rel="dofollow" title="prison" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/prison.html">prison</a> <a rel="dofollow" title="today" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/today.html">today</a>, on March 27. The darknet entrepreneur has been controversially im<a rel="dofollow" title="prison" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/prison.html">prison</a>ed for nearly 11 years in the United States since he was 29.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Ross Ulbricht, a former physics student, <a rel="dofollow" title="found" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/found.html">found</a>ed Silk Road in 2011, an online marketplace that operated on the Tor network.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Notably, the site primarily facilitated the unregulated voluntary exchange of goods and services by its users. Among them, the sale of illegal drugs, as well as other illicit goods and services, using Bitcoin (BTC) as its primary currency to maintain users’ privacy.</p> 
 <div class="border border-red-300 rounded-xl p-6 not-prose mb-6"> 
  <h3 class="text-2xl font-black mt-0 flex gap-x-3 mb-5"> 
   <svg width="32" height="32" viewbox="0 0 32 32" fill="none" xmlns="//www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <path d="M4 10.6665V25.3332C4 28.2678 6.392 29.3332 8 29.3332H28V26.6665H8.016C7.4 26.6505 6.66667 26.4078 6.66667 25.3332C6.66667 24.2585 7.4 24.0158 8.016 23.9998H28V5.33317C28 3.8625 26.804 2.6665 25.3333 2.6665H8C6.392 2.6665 4 3.73184 4 6.6665V10.6665ZM8 5.33317H25.3333V21.3332H6.66667V6.6665C6.66667 5.59184 7.4 5.34917 8 5.33317Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
    </path> <path d="M15.996 18.6668L20.4626 14.2815C20.738 14.0166 20.9571 13.6989 21.1068 13.3473C21.2564 12.9957 21.3336 12.6176 21.3336 12.2355C21.3336 11.8534 21.2564 11.4752 21.1068 11.1236C20.9571 10.7721 20.738 10.4543 20.4626 10.1895C19.9074 9.64148 19.1587 9.33422 18.3786 9.33422C17.5985 9.33422 16.8498 9.64148 16.2946 10.1895L15.996 10.4801L15.6973 10.1881C15.1423 9.64023 14.3938 9.33301 13.614 9.33301C12.8341 9.33301 12.0856 9.64023 11.5306 10.1881C11.2552 10.453 11.0361 10.7707 10.8865 11.1223C10.7368 11.4739 10.6597 11.852 10.6597 12.2341C10.6597 12.6162 10.7368 12.9944 10.8865 13.346C11.0361 13.6975 11.2552 14.0153 11.5306 14.2801L15.996 18.6668Z" fill="#EF4444"> 
    </path> 
   </svg> Picks for you </h3> 
  <div class="grid md:grid-cols-2 gap-x-10 gap-y-3 md:gap-y-5 divide-y divide-gray-300 md:divide-y-0"> 
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
     This $2.8 billion AI token skyrocketed 200% in a month&nbsp; <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">32 mins ago</span> 
   </div> 
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
     DeFi poised for transformative shift, according to Exponential.fi's 'State of DeFi' report <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">52 mins ago</span> 
   </div> 
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
     How much 20-year-olds should invest monthly to reach 1 million by age 50 <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">1 hour ago</span> 
   </div> 
   <div class="md:odd:pr-4 md:odd:border-r odd:border-gray-300 pt-3 first:pt-0 md:pt-0">
     Bitcoin price prediction as whales bag $7 billion BTC in a week <span class="self-center text-xs text-slate-500">2 hours ago</span> 
   </div> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
 <div class="mb-4 bg-slate-50 rounded-md layout-adjustment"> 
  <div id="finbold.com_middle" style="min-width: 300px; min-height: 250px;"> 
  </div> 
 </div> 
 <p class="paragraph">Ulbricht, known by his pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts,” envisioned Silk Road as a libertarian marketplace free from government interference. He believed that individuals should have the right to buy and sell whatever they wanted, as long as it didn’t harm others.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-silk-road-s-rise-and-fall-with-ross-ulbricht-s-imprisonment">Silk Road’s rise and fall with Ross Ulbricht’s imprisonment</h2> 
 <p class="paragraph">As things developed, the site quickly gained popularity among users seeking to purchase illegal substances among other goods and services. At its peak, Silk Road was estimated to have generated over $1 billion in revenue.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">However, the site’s success also attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies. In October 2013, the FBI shut down Silk Road and arrested Ulbricht in San Francisco.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">The darknet entrepreneur was charged with money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics. Prosecutors accused Ross Ulbricht of being the mastermind behind Silk Road and alleged that he had commissioned murders to protect his business, although no evidence of actual murders was <a rel="dofollow" title="found" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/found.html">found</a> and these charges were later dropped.</p> 
 <h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ross-ulbricht-s-11-year-legal-battle-revolving-around-silk-road">Ross Ulbricht’s 11-year legal battle revolving around Silk Road</h3> 
 <p class="paragraph">During his trial, Ulbricht’s defense team argued that he had created Silk Road as an economic experiment. Additionally, that he had stepped away from the site’s operations before the alleged criminal activities took place.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">They also questioned the legality of the evidence gathered against him. Nevertheless, the prosecution presented evidence linking Ulbricht to the “Dread Pirate Roberts” persona, including a journal detailing the creation and operation of Silk Road <a rel="dofollow" title="found" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/found.html">found</a> on his laptop.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">In February 2015, a jury found Ross Ulbricht guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to double life imprisonment plus forty years, without the possibility of parole.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Yet, people criticized the severity of the sentence, viewing it as disproportionate to his crimes. Many critics argued that the case set a dangerous precedent for punishing individuals in the tech industry, limiting innovation.</p> 
 <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-to-donate-to-ross-ulbricht-s-cause">How to donate to Ross Ulbricht’s cause</h2> 
 <p class="paragraph">Supporters of Ulbricht, including his family and friends, maintain that he was a visionary who sought to create a free market and challenge the status quo. They have launched campaigns to raise awareness about his case and advocate for his release. Critics, on the other hand, argue that Ulbricht’s actions facilitated the sale of dangerous drugs and other illegal activities, contributing to societal harm.</p> 
 <p class="paragraph">Interestingly, Ross Ulbricht uses his account on X (formerly Twitter) to give updates on his situation in <a rel="dofollow" title="prison" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/prison.html">prison</a>. Moreover, donating to the “Free Ross” campaign is possible through different means of exchange, including cryptocurrencies.</p> 
 <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter">
  <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> 
   <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> 
    <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just sent $110 worth of #Bitcoin to Ross’s defense campaign. <br><br>If you liked this post, consider matching the donation https://t.co/ZzKR8SlnPk pic.twitter.com/O24j9KaWAP</p>— Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_) March 26, 2024 
   </blockquote> 
  </div>
 </figure> 
 <p class="paragraph">The story of Ross Ulbricht and Silk Road remains a controversial topic, raising questions about the limits of personal freedom, the role of technology in enabling criminal activities, and the unfortunate consequences for those who operate outside the law in the digital age.</p> 
</div> 
<p>Source: <a rel="dofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/silk-road-founder-celebrates-40th-birthday-in-prison-today-tbt83703.html">https://thebittimes.com/silk-road-founder-celebrates-40th-birthday-in-prison-today-tbt83703.html</a></p>

Silk Road founder celebrates 40th birthday in prison today

Table of Contents

TheBitTimes

Other articles published on Mar 27, 2024

Crypto Buzz: Dogecoin's Adam&Eve Pattern Breakout Signals Long-Term Growth

Tether Emerges as The Most Used Stablecoin for Criminal Activity: Report

SuperEx Contracts Trading Points FAQ

Bitcoin Recovers as Solana Gains Shine in Crypto Market

Tether integrates native USDT on Celo mainnet

AltLayer Introduces Staking Feature for Enhanced Economic Security

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!