Kraken raised his donation to Ulbricht amid rumors of a $47M wallet
Crypto exchange Kraken has made a donation to newly released Ross Ulbricht to help the Silk Road founder land on his feet, X revealed.
The exchange sent $111,111 in Bitcoin (BTC) to an address at freeross.org, which it claims is Ulbricht's official website and offers ways for people to contribute to the darknet marketplace creator.
According to Mempool's Bitcoin blockchain browser, 93 donations totaling 2.5 BTC or $261,000 have been made on the page at the time of writing.
Source: Kraken
US President Donald Trump has pardoned Ulbricht on his second day in office, fulfilling a campaign promise to libertarians and the crypto community. Ulbricht has spent 12 years in prison since his arrest in October 2013 and was sentenced to double life in prison without parole and 40 years — a sentence many believe is too harsh for non-violent crimes.
President Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social after the event that he was thrilled to sign a full and unconditional pardon for Ulbricht, calling the sentence “ridiculous.”
The Kraken donation came from Conor Grogan, Coinbase executive who said that wallets left by Ulbricht (and not seized by the US government) contained $47 million in BTC as of January 22. BTC was considered “dust” in 2013. When the government ordered Ulbricht, the price rose after several cycles of the crypto market.
Source: Conor Grogan
Grogan writes that while Ulbricht still doubts they had the keys to access the wallet, “we'll know soon enough.”
President Trump's pardon of Ulbricht has refocused attention on the Silk Road and made an indelible impact on the public consciousness. Some believe that Ulbricht was persecuted more for his role as an early crypto developer than for any harm to society. Earlier, Cointelegraph reported that Hollywood directors Ulbricht's documentary film is in post-production.
The crypto community's response to X has been generally positive. Many see it as proof that President Trump is keeping his promises and issuing executive orders related to digital assets, like one for a strategic Bitcoin stockpile.
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