Crypto personalities implore Trump to pardon Silk Road founder Ulbricht

Numerous crypto names and personalities are showing their support of Silk Road founder and convicted felon Ross Ulbricht on Twitter by asking US President Trump to pardon Ulbricht. Petitions to pardon other charged felons such as US Government whistleblower Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange also garner support from big names in the tech industry.

Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano is among those who believe Trump should pardon Snowden and Assange before the US President leaves office on January 20, 2020, to be replaced by president-elect Joe Biden. The popular podcaster of The Pomp Show tweeted his belief as a reminder on November 8.

Podcaster Peter McCormack of What Bitcoin Did tweeted on November 24 that Donald Trump’s legacy as president may be remembered differently if he pardons Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower against the US Government Edward Snowden.

Numerous personalities and enthusiasts in the crypto space showed agreement with McCormack’s statement. The tweet has since garnered over 1,000 likes on the social media platform.

Morgan Creek Digital Assets co-founder Jason Williams also called for the US President Trump to pardon Ulbricht and Snowden in a tweet on November 26. Bitcoin.com Chief Executive Officer Roger Ver also voiced his statement regarding the pardon in a tweet using the hashtags #FreeSnowden, #FreeAssange and #FreeRoss while tagging Donald Trump’s official Twitter account on November 27.

American entrepreneur Erik Voorhees who founded Bitcoin startup Coinapult and crypto exchange site ShapeShift participated in the trend after tweeting the hashtag #freeross and sharing an NBC news article with the headline ‘House passes historic bill to decriminalize cannabis’ on December 5.

Ross Ulbricht was found guilty of federal charges on money laundering, computer hacking and conspiracy to sell narcotics using the dark web marketplace he created in 2011 called Silk Road.

The site was an online marketplace used to conduct anonymous and private trades which was shut down by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013 after reports of narcotic trafficking were conducted on the website. Ulbricht was arrested on the same day the website was shut down and is currently serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is an Australian national who leaked data provided by U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning on the war logs in Afghanistan and Iraq. The United States launched an investigation regarding WikiLeaks and later charged Assange with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 following the publication of confidential data. He is currently imprisoned in the United Kingdom waiting to be extradited to the US.

Edward Snowden was a former National Security Agency contractor who became a whistleblower in 2013 after revealing how the NSA and CIA invaded the privacy of citizens in the United States and other countries such as Japan. The Department of Justice has also charged him with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. Snowden sought asylum in Russia after leaving the U.S. in 2013.

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