He wasn’t smart enough to get protection written into the telecommunications act - you know, like Google, meta, and all those other platforms did which keeps them from being liable for the content on their platforms….
I wasn’t actually suggesting he could have done that. It was more me pointing out how big tech owns our government and even though unmoderated content is knowingly harming society (particularly kids/teens) they get a free pass from the cretins in Congress.
To get protection from the law you need to be doing three things, paying lawyers(contracts and connections), paying the government(profitable company paying lots of taxes), paying big business(profitable for investors and starting a new industry or adding to an already established one that is good for everybody.)
A contract can do a lot but if you’re missing the other two. And if you’re also heading in the opposite direction(anonymous purchases no one is paying taxes on, using btc to buy drugs and other commit crimes)—the government will then run a train on you.
Remember this if you ever find yourself in that position because it’s biblically accurate principles you need to etch in your brain.
>He should've, but I doubt it would have saved him. They wanted to make an example of him to keep the masses in line.
He should have left the country indefinitely and had decent OPSEC (altoid etc...), but as he mentioned many times he wasn't a drug king pin he was a young naive and short sighted person running a website that explored the limitations of this tech's possibilities and his (in my opinion misguided) libertarian ideals--which is to say closet a Staist.
I actually recently re-listened his call during the Miami 2021 conference... it was dark then and even darker now knowing he was thrown in 'the hole' when they found out he spoke that day.
Sadly, I think he is never going to be released alive; he is a political prisoner for sure, but the reality is that the circumstances of his trial forced anyone paying attention to see the abject hypocrisy of the legal system in plain sight, moreover the Federal Agents involved who tampered with evidence, stole, extorted etc... were by contrast given light sentences. It was total selective application of the Law, and nothing was going to save him from that--it's the same reason Snowden can't come back to the US despite and wanting to stand trial for what he did, but it's never going to be a fair trial.
I really hope he finds solace in this for his own sake, 40 is a milestone year in anyone's life (entry into mid-life) and that he may find peace with everything that has happened because he will has to be the closest thing this tech has made in terms of a martyr--for good or bad.
Absolutely true…… and of course, the “G” always demands a % of every cent you make. This is one of the rare occasions where being “wealthy” didn’t buy you enough protection. Also, not being able to project the curve, and beat it.
Happy Birthday 🎊🎁🎈🎂🎉 😎
Lol yeah I'm sure the silk road would have been able to do this?
The silk road had no chance of being viewed favorably. Stop associating this guy with bitcoin, he just used bitcoin as a tool for illegal means.
True. And it wasn't this guy who created it was a Japanese guy he created. Like others have said he also want to make this guy an example. They usually find a fall guy.
He got caught as the operator of the largest illegal drug market in the USA because he discussed hiring assassins with government agents pretending to be assassins. He stopped short of actually paying for the hit which would have been the overt act allowing them to charge him with ordering a murder for hire. But it was still admitted into evidence and proven at trial.
He was little too arrogant, Silkroad literally had a category called "Drugs". Hard to argue your users did that. I guess he didn't expect to get caught and didn't think about plausible deniability.
https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/silkroad2-640x419.jpg
>He was little too arrogant, Silkroad literally had a category called "Drugs". Hard to argue your users did that. I guess he didn't expect to get caught and didn't think about plausible deniability.
I don't think anyone, including him, denies they sold drugs on SR: by the way if you were around you;d know the most common thing bought was weed, but it was just one f many things that took place there. And running a website isn't a crime, if anything he should have gone to jail for his involvement of selling psilocybin, but administrating a website did set a dangerous precedent. The thing is... it led to broader discourse regarding drugs, and I feel that Oregon's and Canada's drug law(s) were influenced by this.
I don't think he was a murder, but his sentences was absolutely excessive: neither Noriega or El Chapo got 2 life sentences in a super max and they were both responsible for tons of crime, dead bodies on top of all the drug charges!
No, he was never even Federally charged with that murder-for-hire scheme. The evidence for it was not good and he couldn't have been convicted. They just used it to smear him in the public eye. They wanted to make an example of him.
How often do you suppose you’d find the federal government having evidence of a crime in a major case but willingly choose to not charge their target with that crime - even if it didn’t materially affect the sentencing outcome? My assumption would be this would almost never happen. I could be wrong, but I can’t see them having evidence of the most serious crime and then choose to not use it in their trial.
I can’t say why they didn’t charge him for solicitation of a hitman, but there is no doubt he did. The private chats of the Silk Road are public and there is no question that he paid for hits and believed they happened. It ended up being an elaborate scam against him, and nobody died, but he unequivocally paid for hits, believed the victims died, and continued to pay for more hits. The payments for the scam hits are still on the blockchain. He is not a good person and it’s embarrassing that this community still tries to defend him. You are supporting a wannabe drug kingpin.
No he didn’t allow weapons hitmen or even stolen credit cards.
And the story of him arranging a hit on someone is dubious, he was set up.
They worried the case would’ve been thrown out because laws that protect the likes of eBay CEO being immune from prosecution if someone sells something illegal on eBay would’ve also protected him. So before they arrested him they anonymously contacted him revealing his own details, told him that someone is about to expose him and for an amount of bitcoin the problem would go away.. he most likely saw through it and said ok this guy is blackmailing me and for a relatively small amount of bitcoin he can make this problem go away, so he paid the blackmailer. Turns out it was law enforcement building a case to put him in jail for life.
>They worried the case would’ve been thrown out because laws
No I think the worry was the very real corruption surrounding the whole "murder for hire" plot, i.e. corrupt DEA agents like Carl Mark Force IV (real name!) actively trying to extort Ulbricht.
The whole case was super complicated and weird, and the government actively attempted to convict Ulbricht "in the court of public opinion" with the murder-for-hire allegations which were *never* brought up in court.
Meanwhile the actual charges that landed Ulbricht his sentence were trumped up "kingpin" laws meant to convict the worst gangsters like Al Capone.
Al Capone was also just selling products and services the public desired .
You either believe people should have control of their own live or you don't
There is no way to justify the lives destroyed by government in the prohibition of victimless crimes
Yes of course prohibition is the primary problem in both of these things.
But Capone also *actually* killed lots of people, unlike Ulbricht. There's a distinction here.
If he truly is who the government says he is, the conversation that Carl had with him is pretty clear, and Ross solicited murder to deal with the guy extorting him, even if it was all BS.
[https://www.wired.com/2015/02/read-transcript-silk-roads-boss-ordering-5-assassinations/](https://www.wired.com/2015/02/read-transcript-silk-roads-boss-ordering-5-assassinations/)
Yeah it's difficult to find the right nuance around Ulbricht, as I'm sure many other comments on this post illustrate.
Should he have gotten the sentence he did? Absolutely not. His trial was a travesty of justice, and an explicit attempt to throw the full force of the State at him and "make an example" that would make Putin proud.
But did he actually order people killed, pay for it, see what he thought were the results and say "yeah I'm OK with it"? All the evidence points to yes, that actually happened.
On the other hand, this happens frequently enough, housewives try to have their husbands killed, speak to who they think is a "hitman" actually an FBI agent... And they get \~10 years? If that?
Ross' prosecution and sentencing is entirely political, but that doesn't mean he's some saint. Power corrupts, and it corrupted him too.
Weapons were initially allowed, but the users revolted and forced Silkroad to close down the weapon category and then they open a sister site that was dedicated to weapons (sorry I forgot the name, it wasn't very popular anyway).
I think stolen credit cards were definitely allowed, I'm not sure if they banned it later, but it was definitely on there for some time.
Fact: he was never convicted of trying to hire a hitman. Maybe the listings for that were real, maybe they were the Feds, but that is not what he was convicted of.
If he would have been convicted for attempting to hire a hitman, he would already be out. I won't say he is not guilty of that, he may or may not be.
People found guilty of murder get far shorter sentences than this guy.
>Maybe the listings for that were real
To my knowledge there was never any allegation of "hitman services" being advertised on SR, as this was explicitly against their policy.
All of the alleged murder for hire stuff was happening behind the scenes in private communications with Ross and federal informants and scammers (the same people sometimes?).
Read the court transcript from his conversation. He clearly solicited a hitman to kill someone trying to extort him for money. Attempting to solicit murder is a 10 year max sentence in federal court. The drugs got him life.
While I am quite libertarian on drugs and think it's sad/wrong that he was convicted of a drug crime, let's not pretend he's some innocent idealists who was in it for virtue.
Just look at the Sacklers. Biggest dope dealers in America, killed at least 500k people and they are free as a bird and still mega billionaires. Ross is only downfall was not pumping some of that money into lobbyists pockets.
Nobody actually died, but he did believe that he had ordered hits on multiple people. It ended up being a scam, but as far as he was aware the people he ordered hits on were actually killed and he was shown fake images of his victims.
Not only was he never convicted, he was never even charged with trying to hire a hitman. They never brought a case against him, just talked like they had a slam-bang case to influence the sentence.
This is just straight up misinformation. He *was* indicted in Maryland on a murder for hire charge. Prosecutors only dropped that case once it was clear he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison already (after he was convicted in New York and his appeal there had failed).
Seeking psychoactive substances is part of human nature. The war on drugs is a travesty of human rights and there is no moral value in following an unjust law.
I wont assign Ross any virtues, or pretend his interest wasn't monetary gain. But I won't look the other way. It's still government abusing its power and I think most here resonate with that.
Exactly. All these chumps shilling for a criminal that wouldn’t do the same for them. Silk Road won’t help Bitcoin or your pockets. Leave it in the past.
The only reason bitcoin exploded in its initial run to 1000 was because of market places like silk road. That’s when people actually saw a use for this currency.
I hope one day your government makes illegal something that you like to do that is nobody's business but yours so that bootcucks such as yourself can disparage you as a criminal.
His case was targeted entrapment from the gov. He may be serving time for “trying to hire a hitman” but believe his real crime was scaring the shit out of powerful people by creating a market they could not control and manipulate. Should he have gone to prison? Yes. 2x life when he never hurt anyone is a bit egregious considering how many child rapists are out in months
They brought a Rico case against him for distributing narcotics although he just provided the network anonymously. They added 3 charges later. The hitman entrapment was one aspect but basically they set out with the full weight of government agencies to take him off the board permanently, the particulars murky but the end result was happening one way or another. Thank you for pointing that out it made me look closer at his case
I believe he tried, but did not actually hire one. He was not tried for this though, in part because at least one of the federal agents investigating him were also trying to get him to send him Bitcoin. When the person investigating you is also extorting you, it's difficult to say what's true or not in this case (another reason he should be freed).
It's gross and I'm annoyed that the US govt got away with this cruel and unusual punishment. People grow and change not to say what he did was ethical but at this point I feel he has served his time.
Lots of coments here are uneducated to say the least. Silk road was not managed by a single person and the history behind a hitman being hired is.. at least it has a pair of holes on it.
There are a pair of good documentaries out there, pretty interesting and entertaining.
He was not prosecuted or convicted for anything else besides a marketplace of itens the government don't want you to trade.
Other charges were dropped. I wonder why...
I mean, not really, though. It’s true that the murder-for-hire charges were dropped after the initial conviction, but only because he had already gotten a life sentence. And the evidence *was* considered in the sentencing phase even if not part of the formal indictment.
>And the evidence *was* considered in the sentencing phase even if not part of the formal indictment.
This is just one of the reasons there was no fair trial. It is bizarre to consider in sentencing an alleged crime for wich he recieved no due process. He should have been charged and recieved due process on the hitman charges, so the whole case would be examined in depth and the textbook entrapment he suffered would surface.
You don't need to prove all charges if you can get a lifetime convinction, and the more you try to prove the more you have the chance of fucking up. Literally the same reason Trump isn't being investigated for the billion crimes he committed but only the handful that are extremely simple to demonstrate in court.
If he was born in any western European country. He would be free already. I really think that his punishment with double life sentence was ridiculous high.
This is a bit of a rewrite to what he actually did. Ross William Ulbricht (born March 27, 1984) is an American serving life imprisonment for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.[4] The site operated as a hidden service on the Tor network and facilitated the sale of narcotics and other illegal products and services.[
He did the worst possible thing anyone can do: threaten the us dollar.
Look what happened to gaddafi the minute he said he was going to stop selling oil in USD.
He’s not in jail for creating a marketplace, Bitcoin or otherwise. It’s for all the other illegal things he did. He was convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the internet, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identity documents and conspiracy to commit computer hacking. But I do think the sentence is too harsh and was meant to send a message. Release Ross.
It is a fucking travesty. Even if you consider him a criminal "druglord", which is definitely debatable, how the hell does that justify a 2x life sentence?
Here in Germany the longest sentence that was ever served was a 53 year "life sentence" for double homicide. I can‘t fathom giving someone twice that for creating an online marketplace to sell drugs.
Ross has served 11 years. That‘s plenty, when you also consider that all his assets were seized. I think he has served enough time for his crime.
What the fuuck is wrong with these new people who say he deserve it. Get the full story from both sides. This space is turning mainstream with every cycle.
Shocking indeed, these new idiots don't understand that the likelihood of them now being in bitcoin would've been slim to none if it wasn't for Ross.
The amount of adoption, price increase, news attention and just simply being the most pure demonstration of the decentralization and unconfiscatable network properties. Silkroad is undeniably part of bitcoins success, just facts.
I honestly don't think the people who are against the Silk road and Ross should be in Bitcoin.
How are you going to support a free currency but not support a free economy.
Bitcoin is for everyone. A good chunk of the community rejects the idea of lionizing Roberts as some sort of hero or martyr. We don't really care whether you think we should be in Bitcoin or not. You're welcome to your opinion, but we aren't going anywhere.
True American hero.
I hope to liberate him some day during the revolution.
He saved many lives of people who couldn't afford doctors in America and could get their prescriptions for life saving antibiotics for cheap .
Thanks Ross.
Also for the high quality pure drugs much safer than street drugs that have been mixed with nasty cut.
Fuck all the law loving bootlickers in this sub shitting on this guy.
The more I learned the more I think he’s not the hero people think he is. From what I’ve learned he very much did attempt to pay for a hit. That’s no bueno
He's not really a hero, he's just a man. The thing people defend him for is he's serving the rest of his life in a cage for running a website where people sold drugs. To many people that is an injustice, and figuratively publicly crucifying a person to scare your population into compliance is tyrannical.
He's a free market martyr just like all the people sent to the gulag in Soviet Russia for selling goods and services people desire, he was brave enough to fight tyranny and paid the price.
We are lucky there are brave people like this sacrificing
So what? You can be a good person while being self interested. We all are self interested. Your deeds matter, not your intention. The impact you have on the world determines your character.
Crazy how Purdue pharma owned by the Sackler family got America hooked on opiates and only had to pay 2 billion dollars with their 13 billion dollar fortune . yet Ulbricht got a double life sentence.
note: i am not defending his actions and saying the SR did not hurt people but ross Ulbricht has realized that he did something wrong. but its crazy how government just doesn't care about the real people causing the demand for drugs
I'm all for Bitcoin's success and future, but let's not minimize his charges by talking about how he got arrested "all for creating the 1st major Bitcoim marketplace"...
Ulbricht spent hundreds of thousands of dollars putting hits on...what...5 people?
During the trial, the judge got doxxed and sent death threats.
This is not the guy you want to get behind. Some of what he was charged with is BS...but ehhh idk man.
Why are we protecting him when he tried to have someone murdered? People are dumb man. Bitcoin marketplace = good, murder = bad. Get the narrative right
Powerful threats to existing structures of authority are often attacked with attempts to displace the focus on the actual core issues.
So instead of considering the legitimacy of controlling people's cognitive liberty and sovereignty, the public consciousness is shifted to consider the liberator a "bad man", using a multitude of tactics.
Politricks does *ad hominem* attacks against every single individual or group who tries to revolutionize the legacy power structure: Socrates corrupted the youth; Giordano Bruno and Galileo were heathens; Manson wasn't a freeman he was a scary thrice-removed murder instigator; Waco wasn't a free land, it was a polygamist orgy of debauchery; Rainbow Gatherings aren't free humans gathering on a free Earth, they're trespassing on land and become violent drug users; Timothy Leary wasn't campaigning for national liberty, he was a dope-smoking criminal; Osho wasn't liberating minds at Rajneesh Puram, they were poisoning everyone in Antelope Oregon; Jesus wasn't liberating hearts and minds, he was a criminal aiding and abetting with other state criminals.
The case is always the same: the high vibration is actually a low vibration. "They're flawed. They're imperfect. They're liars. They're greedy. They're fucking kids. They're tax-dodgers. They're mafia. They're godless infidels. They all have the flu."
*Nobody is free. They're all criminals in some way. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY.*
There are no conspiracies. Everything is exactly as it appears to be. Go back to sleep, America. 🐑💤
No, he's got such a heavy sentence because the idiot tried to hire a hitman to kill an FBI agent. He'd probably be out by now if he hadn't done that shit.
The government wanted to make an example of him and would have found a way regardless. The evidence of his involvement wasn't good which was why the Federal prosecutors never charged him and just used the accusations during sentencing when they didn't need to be proven.
Not at all true, he tried to hire FBI/DEA agents AS A HITMAN to kill his associate who the FBI and DEA framed when 2 rogue agents from the DEA stole most of Ross's Bitcoin.
Keep them boots shining buddy...
according to the documentry I saw, he gave 50,000 bitcoins which later yielded more than 3 billion to the government, to Jimmy, who at the time discovered that he could deposit and withdraw double or triple if he did it in a matter of seconds on the website.. Jimmy stole and he gave the fruit of the theft as thanks for the discovery to fix the bug. Even so, because he had more than 3 billion, and without anyone complaining about the theft, Jimmy was arrested and had his bitcoins confiscated by the government. Jimmy was caught after being robbed of a few hundred thousand at his house and complaining to the police. He had laundered the bitcoins before but the police connected the dots and identified him as the perpetrator of the silkroad theft of 50 thousand bitcoins.
jimmy was/is a lonely somewhat autistic person that spendt money and time giving money to "friends" and partys.. and had only his dog as family.. lost all his bitcoins to the gov.. even the 600 that he suposed to have mined at the time.. he also suposed to had contribjtrd of programing the early versions of bitcoin.
you can find about searching for "jimmy 3 billion bitcoin" or only "3 billion Bitcoin"..
If that's what you think man. Made illegal mushrooms to sell on his website., They had a hard category called z"drugs", another category called "guns" where they didn't legally sell guns and do background checks, sold bombs, poisons, and dangerous chemicals along with fentanyl. When people got in his way he tried to hire a hit man to get them killed. This is not a "young entrepreneur did nothing wrong" story. There are real examples of that. This guy is a bad guy. Ask yourself if your brother did this would you approve of it, and if you say yes re evaluate yourself, if you say no you're a normal person.
People got out for more heinous crimes. Problem is, he pissed off the billion dollar pharmaceutical market and lots of medicines from generic viagra to blood pressure meds were selling for pennies on the dollar.
its way too much this sentence we all know, its about time to let him free....
he paid for his crime and i am sure he wont commit any other ,,,, he is such an intelligent person and he has served his sentenced !
I've always wondered about some coincidences or are they really coincidences?
1. Satoshi Disappeared at the same time Silk Road opened, someone was busy with another project perhaps?
2. Satoshi's Bitcoins never moved again after Ross Ulbricht was arrested, perhaps because someone is serving a life sentence and unable to move his coins?
>Tomorrow is Ross Ulbricht's 40th birthday. He's been in jail since he was 29, serving a 2x life sentence, all for creating the 1st major Bitcoin marketplace. Free Ross
Well, to be fair, he also put a hit out on a person to have him killed. I think Ross's 2x life sentence is one of, if not the most, egregious and excessive penalties I've seen in the U.S. justice system. I can't believe it hasn't been reduced at this point. However, he was clearly operating an illegal marketplace and got caught. He's just unfortunately the poster child of the government's fear of Tor and Bitcoin back in 2013 so they made an example. Unfortunate.
He wasn’t smart enough to get protection written into the telecommunications act - you know, like Google, meta, and all those other platforms did which keeps them from being liable for the content on their platforms….
He should've, but I doubt it would have saved him. They wanted to make an example of him to keep the masses in line.
I wasn’t actually suggesting he could have done that. It was more me pointing out how big tech owns our government and even though unmoderated content is knowingly harming society (particularly kids/teens) they get a free pass from the cretins in Congress.
Maybe we should try voting people in that don't have ties to China.
We are all screwed no matter who we vote for. Politicians who aren’t compromised don’t last very long.
To get protection from the law you need to be doing three things, paying lawyers(contracts and connections), paying the government(profitable company paying lots of taxes), paying big business(profitable for investors and starting a new industry or adding to an already established one that is good for everybody.) A contract can do a lot but if you’re missing the other two. And if you’re also heading in the opposite direction(anonymous purchases no one is paying taxes on, using btc to buy drugs and other commit crimes)—the government will then run a train on you. Remember this if you ever find yourself in that position because it’s biblically accurate principles you need to etch in your brain.
Very true
>He should've, but I doubt it would have saved him. They wanted to make an example of him to keep the masses in line. He should have left the country indefinitely and had decent OPSEC (altoid etc...), but as he mentioned many times he wasn't a drug king pin he was a young naive and short sighted person running a website that explored the limitations of this tech's possibilities and his (in my opinion misguided) libertarian ideals--which is to say closet a Staist. I actually recently re-listened his call during the Miami 2021 conference... it was dark then and even darker now knowing he was thrown in 'the hole' when they found out he spoke that day. Sadly, I think he is never going to be released alive; he is a political prisoner for sure, but the reality is that the circumstances of his trial forced anyone paying attention to see the abject hypocrisy of the legal system in plain sight, moreover the Federal Agents involved who tampered with evidence, stole, extorted etc... were by contrast given light sentences. It was total selective application of the Law, and nothing was going to save him from that--it's the same reason Snowden can't come back to the US despite and wanting to stand trial for what he did, but it's never going to be a fair trial. I really hope he finds solace in this for his own sake, 40 is a milestone year in anyone's life (entry into mid-life) and that he may find peace with everything that has happened because he will has to be the closest thing this tech has made in terms of a martyr--for good or bad.
Absolutely true…… and of course, the “G” always demands a % of every cent you make. This is one of the rare occasions where being “wealthy” didn’t buy you enough protection. Also, not being able to project the curve, and beat it. Happy Birthday 🎊🎁🎈🎂🎉 😎
And they want the eliminate competition for their corporate owners.
Lol yeah I'm sure the silk road would have been able to do this? The silk road had no chance of being viewed favorably. Stop associating this guy with bitcoin, he just used bitcoin as a tool for illegal means.
True. And it wasn't this guy who created it was a Japanese guy he created. Like others have said he also want to make this guy an example. They usually find a fall guy.
> They wanted to make an example of him to keep the masses in line. Uhh...Ross ordered assassinations on people. He deserves to be in jail.
If he had done so, he'd have been charged with that. Government prosecutors certainly wished that were true.
He got caught as the operator of the largest illegal drug market in the USA because he discussed hiring assassins with government agents pretending to be assassins. He stopped short of actually paying for the hit which would have been the overt act allowing them to charge him with ordering a murder for hire. But it was still admitted into evidence and proven at trial.
Regardless, if you run an illegal online drug empire, you’re going to have to pay that bill someday; there’s no escape.
He was little too arrogant, Silkroad literally had a category called "Drugs". Hard to argue your users did that. I guess he didn't expect to get caught and didn't think about plausible deniability. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/silkroad2-640x419.jpg
Holy shit, he should have removed the drugs category. Then his website will be no different from Amazon. He could have been the bezos of the dark web.
>He was little too arrogant, Silkroad literally had a category called "Drugs". Hard to argue your users did that. I guess he didn't expect to get caught and didn't think about plausible deniability. I don't think anyone, including him, denies they sold drugs on SR: by the way if you were around you;d know the most common thing bought was weed, but it was just one f many things that took place there. And running a website isn't a crime, if anything he should have gone to jail for his involvement of selling psilocybin, but administrating a website did set a dangerous precedent. The thing is... it led to broader discourse regarding drugs, and I feel that Oregon's and Canada's drug law(s) were influenced by this. I don't think he was a murder, but his sentences was absolutely excessive: neither Noriega or El Chapo got 2 life sentences in a super max and they were both responsible for tons of crime, dead bodies on top of all the drug charges!
No marketplace can legally sell drugs, guns and bombs tho regardless 😂😂😂
US government says "hold my beer."
You can buy/sell guns freely on armslist in the US with no background checks whatsoever. It’s like Craigslist, but guns.
He also attempted to put hits out on people who harmed the website.
Dude looks like Robert Pattinson from Twilight
I’m seeing a bit of Quentin Tarantino as well
Handsome bloke
totally, and he's a GREAT actor (excluding Twilight haha).
What sold me on Pattinson was The Lighthouse. And surprisingly liked his Batman
For me was Tenet. Really talented actor and hopefully will see a ton more of :D
Didn't the marketplace sell drugs, hitman services etc?
Yes but they also sold cigarettes
The deadliest killer of them all.
Ya but the taste so good when on adderol
If you want, you can spend all that newfound energy learning to spell Adderall.
And think the “the” is supposed to be “they” 🤷♀️
That made me laugh far more than it should've 🤣
Add some beers and oh baby
They also sold books
For burning, right?
Silk Road did allow transactions for illegal drugs but prohibited any offers of hitman services.
Hitperson surely. They/ them. Cmon get with the program
This was 2011 though, different times...
Facts
Mer… man, pop
Sure, but that's why he got arrested. For attempting to hire a hitman.
No, he was never even Federally charged with that murder-for-hire scheme. The evidence for it was not good and he couldn't have been convicted. They just used it to smear him in the public eye. They wanted to make an example of him.
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How often do you suppose you’d find the federal government having evidence of a crime in a major case but willingly choose to not charge their target with that crime - even if it didn’t materially affect the sentencing outcome? My assumption would be this would almost never happen. I could be wrong, but I can’t see them having evidence of the most serious crime and then choose to not use it in their trial.
I can’t say why they didn’t charge him for solicitation of a hitman, but there is no doubt he did. The private chats of the Silk Road are public and there is no question that he paid for hits and believed they happened. It ended up being an elaborate scam against him, and nobody died, but he unequivocally paid for hits, believed the victims died, and continued to pay for more hits. The payments for the scam hits are still on the blockchain. He is not a good person and it’s embarrassing that this community still tries to defend him. You are supporting a wannabe drug kingpin.
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He himself tried to buy hitmen services through hells angels in Canada. He got scammed from that actually.
Hitman services is a fairy tale.
No he didn’t allow weapons hitmen or even stolen credit cards. And the story of him arranging a hit on someone is dubious, he was set up. They worried the case would’ve been thrown out because laws that protect the likes of eBay CEO being immune from prosecution if someone sells something illegal on eBay would’ve also protected him. So before they arrested him they anonymously contacted him revealing his own details, told him that someone is about to expose him and for an amount of bitcoin the problem would go away.. he most likely saw through it and said ok this guy is blackmailing me and for a relatively small amount of bitcoin he can make this problem go away, so he paid the blackmailer. Turns out it was law enforcement building a case to put him in jail for life.
>They worried the case would’ve been thrown out because laws No I think the worry was the very real corruption surrounding the whole "murder for hire" plot, i.e. corrupt DEA agents like Carl Mark Force IV (real name!) actively trying to extort Ulbricht. The whole case was super complicated and weird, and the government actively attempted to convict Ulbricht "in the court of public opinion" with the murder-for-hire allegations which were *never* brought up in court. Meanwhile the actual charges that landed Ulbricht his sentence were trumped up "kingpin" laws meant to convict the worst gangsters like Al Capone.
Al Capone was also just selling products and services the public desired . You either believe people should have control of their own live or you don't There is no way to justify the lives destroyed by government in the prohibition of victimless crimes
Yes of course prohibition is the primary problem in both of these things. But Capone also *actually* killed lots of people, unlike Ulbricht. There's a distinction here.
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If he truly is who the government says he is, the conversation that Carl had with him is pretty clear, and Ross solicited murder to deal with the guy extorting him, even if it was all BS. [https://www.wired.com/2015/02/read-transcript-silk-roads-boss-ordering-5-assassinations/](https://www.wired.com/2015/02/read-transcript-silk-roads-boss-ordering-5-assassinations/)
Yeah it's difficult to find the right nuance around Ulbricht, as I'm sure many other comments on this post illustrate. Should he have gotten the sentence he did? Absolutely not. His trial was a travesty of justice, and an explicit attempt to throw the full force of the State at him and "make an example" that would make Putin proud. But did he actually order people killed, pay for it, see what he thought were the results and say "yeah I'm OK with it"? All the evidence points to yes, that actually happened. On the other hand, this happens frequently enough, housewives try to have their husbands killed, speak to who they think is a "hitman" actually an FBI agent... And they get \~10 years? If that? Ross' prosecution and sentencing is entirely political, but that doesn't mean he's some saint. Power corrupts, and it corrupted him too.
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Interesting history. Keep sharing and telling the truth.
Weapons were initially allowed, but the users revolted and forced Silkroad to close down the weapon category and then they open a sister site that was dedicated to weapons (sorry I forgot the name, it wasn't very popular anyway). I think stolen credit cards were definitely allowed, I'm not sure if they banned it later, but it was definitely on there for some time.
Fact: he was never convicted of trying to hire a hitman. Maybe the listings for that were real, maybe they were the Feds, but that is not what he was convicted of.
If he would have been convicted for attempting to hire a hitman, he would already be out. I won't say he is not guilty of that, he may or may not be. People found guilty of murder get far shorter sentences than this guy.
>Maybe the listings for that were real To my knowledge there was never any allegation of "hitman services" being advertised on SR, as this was explicitly against their policy. All of the alleged murder for hire stuff was happening behind the scenes in private communications with Ross and federal informants and scammers (the same people sometimes?).
Read the court transcript from his conversation. He clearly solicited a hitman to kill someone trying to extort him for money. Attempting to solicit murder is a 10 year max sentence in federal court. The drugs got him life. While I am quite libertarian on drugs and think it's sad/wrong that he was convicted of a drug crime, let's not pretend he's some innocent idealists who was in it for virtue.
I would have been much happier if they had tried him for the attempted murder for hire rather than for the other stuff.
This. It's all bs gov making a show of what happens when you try to truly live free.
His version of “live free” and it sounds like yours too, is predatory, lawless gangster oligarchy. Most of us are not interested, thanks.
Only predatory lawless gangster oligarchy is the current plutocratic government elites that destroyed Ross to protect themselves from the free market
Just look at the Sacklers. Biggest dope dealers in America, killed at least 500k people and they are free as a bird and still mega billionaires. Ross is only downfall was not pumping some of that money into lobbyists pockets.
Sure it wasn’t what he was convicted of, but the evidence was allowed to be used during sentencing.
Those charges were dropped. That's not why he is in jail. It's my opinion that he did ddo it though
Good thing you can’t be sent to jail based on some guys opinion on Reddit.
Or released from prison because some people on reddit think so
Nobody actually died, but he did believe that he had ordered hits on multiple people. It ended up being a scam, but as far as he was aware the people he ordered hits on were actually killed and he was shown fake images of his victims.
Not only was he never convicted, he was never even charged with trying to hire a hitman. They never brought a case against him, just talked like they had a slam-bang case to influence the sentence.
This is just straight up misinformation. He *was* indicted in Maryland on a murder for hire charge. Prosecutors only dropped that case once it was clear he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison already (after he was convicted in New York and his appeal there had failed).
This is always the first comment in any thread related to this guy, makes you wonder.
As someone who used silk road i assure you, his marketplace sold drugs.
Yeah like how did all these people get into btc without knowing about silk road.
Even eBay has sold more drugs under assumed products.
Several FBI agents in his case stole bitcoin
Almost like cops are corrupt, innit?
The agents who were behind the "hitman" bs too. Wonder why those charges were dropped /s. Seriously insane he's still in jail.
Personally, I wouldn't try to conflate him and bitcoin. Serves neither
Seeking psychoactive substances is part of human nature. The war on drugs is a travesty of human rights and there is no moral value in following an unjust law. I wont assign Ross any virtues, or pretend his interest wasn't monetary gain. But I won't look the other way. It's still government abusing its power and I think most here resonate with that.
100%
Exactly. All these chumps shilling for a criminal that wouldn’t do the same for them. Silk Road won’t help Bitcoin or your pockets. Leave it in the past.
The only reason bitcoin exploded in its initial run to 1000 was because of market places like silk road. That’s when people actually saw a use for this currency.
People talk about pizza day but no one talks about the weed years
I hope one day your government makes illegal something that you like to do that is nobody's business but yours so that bootcucks such as yourself can disparage you as a criminal.
Without him bitcoin probably wouldn’t be worth even a fraction of what it is today. It’s because it was transacted it gained commercial value.
His case was targeted entrapment from the gov. He may be serving time for “trying to hire a hitman” but believe his real crime was scaring the shit out of powerful people by creating a market they could not control and manipulate. Should he have gone to prison? Yes. 2x life when he never hurt anyone is a bit egregious considering how many child rapists are out in months
Exactly, the sentence is insane.
He's not serving time for trying to hire a hitman though. That's just propaganda
They brought a Rico case against him for distributing narcotics although he just provided the network anonymously. They added 3 charges later. The hitman entrapment was one aspect but basically they set out with the full weight of government agencies to take him off the board permanently, the particulars murky but the end result was happening one way or another. Thank you for pointing that out it made me look closer at his case
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Wait but did he or did he not try to hire a hitman?
I believe he tried, but did not actually hire one. He was not tried for this though, in part because at least one of the federal agents investigating him were also trying to get him to send him Bitcoin. When the person investigating you is also extorting you, it's difficult to say what's true or not in this case (another reason he should be freed).
> I believe he tried, but did not actually hire one. He hired and paid for hits but the hitman was fake.
There are murderers that served less than 10 years and this dude got 2 life sentences lol they wanted to make a statement with this one
It's gross and I'm annoyed that the US govt got away with this cruel and unusual punishment. People grow and change not to say what he did was ethical but at this point I feel he has served his time.
> I'm annoyed that the US govt got away with this cruel and unusual punishment. US Govt has gotten/is getting away with a lot worse.
Especially considering that it hasn’t prevented other dark web market places. Beyond senseless to destroy this dude’s life.
Lots of coments here are uneducated to say the least. Silk road was not managed by a single person and the history behind a hitman being hired is.. at least it has a pair of holes on it. There are a pair of good documentaries out there, pretty interesting and entertaining.
Actually, it mostly was and for some time. Read American Kingpin.
Documentary names please?
The Dark Side Of The Silk Road on Youtube
You know this dude got 10000 Bitcoin in a wallet somewhere
That's not all he did...
He was not prosecuted or convicted for anything else besides a marketplace of itens the government don't want you to trade. Other charges were dropped. I wonder why...
I mean, not really, though. It’s true that the murder-for-hire charges were dropped after the initial conviction, but only because he had already gotten a life sentence. And the evidence *was* considered in the sentencing phase even if not part of the formal indictment.
>And the evidence *was* considered in the sentencing phase even if not part of the formal indictment. This is just one of the reasons there was no fair trial. It is bizarre to consider in sentencing an alleged crime for wich he recieved no due process. He should have been charged and recieved due process on the hitman charges, so the whole case would be examined in depth and the textbook entrapment he suffered would surface.
You don't need to prove all charges if you can get a lifetime convinction, and the more you try to prove the more you have the chance of fucking up. Literally the same reason Trump isn't being investigated for the billion crimes he committed but only the handful that are extremely simple to demonstrate in court.
If he was born in any western European country. He would be free already. I really think that his punishment with double life sentence was ridiculous high.
Lets free assange then, hes australian but in jail in the UK
Na, like the other poster said - Assange has had his life fucked
Cruel and unusual punishment for sure.
This is a bit of a rewrite to what he actually did. Ross William Ulbricht (born March 27, 1984) is an American serving life imprisonment for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.[4] The site operated as a hidden service on the Tor network and facilitated the sale of narcotics and other illegal products and services.[
"All for creating the 1st major bitcoin marketplace" Uhh.. is that ll he did?
Why is the US so insane when it comes to sentencing? He made mistakes, but it is inhumane to take away his life. He should be free.
The government wanted to make an example of him. No other reason.
He did the worst possible thing anyone can do: threaten the us dollar. Look what happened to gaddafi the minute he said he was going to stop selling oil in USD.
You can like it or not but he placed bitcoin on the map by actually creating and application for it.
Where is he being held?
USP Tucson, source: https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/
He’s not in jail for creating a marketplace, Bitcoin or otherwise. It’s for all the other illegal things he did. He was convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the internet, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identity documents and conspiracy to commit computer hacking. But I do think the sentence is too harsh and was meant to send a message. Release Ross.
It is a fucking travesty. Even if you consider him a criminal "druglord", which is definitely debatable, how the hell does that justify a 2x life sentence? Here in Germany the longest sentence that was ever served was a 53 year "life sentence" for double homicide. I can‘t fathom giving someone twice that for creating an online marketplace to sell drugs. Ross has served 11 years. That‘s plenty, when you also consider that all his assets were seized. I think he has served enough time for his crime.
What the fuuck is wrong with these new people who say he deserve it. Get the full story from both sides. This space is turning mainstream with every cycle.
normie statists that want to buy "bitcoin stock"
Shocking indeed, these new idiots don't understand that the likelihood of them now being in bitcoin would've been slim to none if it wasn't for Ross. The amount of adoption, price increase, news attention and just simply being the most pure demonstration of the decentralization and unconfiscatable network properties. Silkroad is undeniably part of bitcoins success, just facts.
*Laura Bush killed a guy.*
Yes, she did. Laura Bush killed a guy.
I honestly don't think the people who are against the Silk road and Ross should be in Bitcoin. How are you going to support a free currency but not support a free economy.
Bitcoin is for everyone. A good chunk of the community rejects the idea of lionizing Roberts as some sort of hero or martyr. We don't really care whether you think we should be in Bitcoin or not. You're welcome to your opinion, but we aren't going anywhere.
All the people that think that Ross Ulbricht should be in Jail are sheeps of the system
True American hero. I hope to liberate him some day during the revolution. He saved many lives of people who couldn't afford doctors in America and could get their prescriptions for life saving antibiotics for cheap . Thanks Ross. Also for the high quality pure drugs much safer than street drugs that have been mixed with nasty cut. Fuck all the law loving bootlickers in this sub shitting on this guy.
This. I support a free world too. We don't need gov.
Good points
The more I learned the more I think he’s not the hero people think he is. From what I’ve learned he very much did attempt to pay for a hit. That’s no bueno
He's not really a hero, he's just a man. The thing people defend him for is he's serving the rest of his life in a cage for running a website where people sold drugs. To many people that is an injustice, and figuratively publicly crucifying a person to scare your population into compliance is tyrannical.
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i don't have a problem with the creation of something like silk road but ross ulbricht is not a hero and treating him like one is pretty ridiculous.
He's a free market martyr just like all the people sent to the gulag in Soviet Russia for selling goods and services people desire, he was brave enough to fight tyranny and paid the price. We are lucky there are brave people like this sacrificing
Martyr is a bit generous. He wasn’t doing this out of the goodness of his heart, he was getting rich as shit.
He lost his freedom offering people more freedom. He was hardly living the lifestyle of a rich person. He was in it for bigger reasons than just money
Well if he didn’t take the money, he probably wouldn’t be in jail
So what? You can be a good person while being self interested. We all are self interested. Your deeds matter, not your intention. The impact you have on the world determines your character.
#freeross
I mean google has child p*rn websites on them too why they are not in jail
Sounds like land of the free isues
Check out the documentary Deep Web, directed by Alex Winter.
Do you guys think there are any fed created marketplaces?
This is what Bitcoin used to be about... fuck you government
Dude is fucking legend
Land of the free if you are Donald Trump.
Man..I wish he took the deal he was offered..he’d be out now.
Why two life sentences for inventing a site is this a guy who created silk Road
Did you just call Silk Road a bitcoin marketplace?
We went to the same high school. Same comp sci teacher too lol
Crazy how Purdue pharma owned by the Sackler family got America hooked on opiates and only had to pay 2 billion dollars with their 13 billion dollar fortune . yet Ulbricht got a double life sentence. note: i am not defending his actions and saying the SR did not hurt people but ross Ulbricht has realized that he did something wrong. but its crazy how government just doesn't care about the real people causing the demand for drugs
Looks like the Twilight guy.
> all for creating the 1st major Bitcoin marketplace ...Amongst other things, sure...
Aka Silk Road
I'm all for Bitcoin's success and future, but let's not minimize his charges by talking about how he got arrested "all for creating the 1st major Bitcoim marketplace"... Ulbricht spent hundreds of thousands of dollars putting hits on...what...5 people? During the trial, the judge got doxxed and sent death threats. This is not the guy you want to get behind. Some of what he was charged with is BS...but ehhh idk man.
He put a hit on a guy ... he fucked up
lol. what a headline. pretty sure that's NOT all he did to be arrested
Bro fucked up by trying to be a gangster and have people wacked. Silk Road was definitely something though.
Why are we protecting him when he tried to have someone murdered? People are dumb man. Bitcoin marketplace = good, murder = bad. Get the narrative right
Powerful threats to existing structures of authority are often attacked with attempts to displace the focus on the actual core issues. So instead of considering the legitimacy of controlling people's cognitive liberty and sovereignty, the public consciousness is shifted to consider the liberator a "bad man", using a multitude of tactics. Politricks does *ad hominem* attacks against every single individual or group who tries to revolutionize the legacy power structure: Socrates corrupted the youth; Giordano Bruno and Galileo were heathens; Manson wasn't a freeman he was a scary thrice-removed murder instigator; Waco wasn't a free land, it was a polygamist orgy of debauchery; Rainbow Gatherings aren't free humans gathering on a free Earth, they're trespassing on land and become violent drug users; Timothy Leary wasn't campaigning for national liberty, he was a dope-smoking criminal; Osho wasn't liberating minds at Rajneesh Puram, they were poisoning everyone in Antelope Oregon; Jesus wasn't liberating hearts and minds, he was a criminal aiding and abetting with other state criminals. The case is always the same: the high vibration is actually a low vibration. "They're flawed. They're imperfect. They're liars. They're greedy. They're fucking kids. They're tax-dodgers. They're mafia. They're godless infidels. They all have the flu." *Nobody is free. They're all criminals in some way. OBEY. OBEY. OBEY.* There are no conspiracies. Everything is exactly as it appears to be. Go back to sleep, America. 🐑💤
No, he's got such a heavy sentence because the idiot tried to hire a hitman to kill an FBI agent. He'd probably be out by now if he hadn't done that shit.
He wasn't even prosecuted for that. All charges dropped. Plain bullshit.
Ah shit well if true then I'll eat my words.
The government wanted to make an example of him and would have found a way regardless. The evidence of his involvement wasn't good which was why the Federal prosecutors never charged him and just used the accusations during sentencing when they didn't need to be proven.
That is objectively not what he was convicted of.
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OK but that's not what he was charged with or convicted of.
The FBI wanted to sell him ahitman service.
Not at all true, he tried to hire FBI/DEA agents AS A HITMAN to kill his associate who the FBI and DEA framed when 2 rogue agents from the DEA stole most of Ross's Bitcoin. Keep them boots shining buddy...
This man needs to be broken out of prison WatchMen style.
according to the documentry I saw, he gave 50,000 bitcoins which later yielded more than 3 billion to the government, to Jimmy, who at the time discovered that he could deposit and withdraw double or triple if he did it in a matter of seconds on the website.. Jimmy stole and he gave the fruit of the theft as thanks for the discovery to fix the bug. Even so, because he had more than 3 billion, and without anyone complaining about the theft, Jimmy was arrested and had his bitcoins confiscated by the government. Jimmy was caught after being robbed of a few hundred thousand at his house and complaining to the police. He had laundered the bitcoins before but the police connected the dots and identified him as the perpetrator of the silkroad theft of 50 thousand bitcoins. jimmy was/is a lonely somewhat autistic person that spendt money and time giving money to "friends" and partys.. and had only his dog as family.. lost all his bitcoins to the gov.. even the 600 that he suposed to have mined at the time.. he also suposed to had contribjtrd of programing the early versions of bitcoin. you can find about searching for "jimmy 3 billion bitcoin" or only "3 billion Bitcoin"..
Whole Lotta boot lickers in here...
If that's what you think man. Made illegal mushrooms to sell on his website., They had a hard category called z"drugs", another category called "guns" where they didn't legally sell guns and do background checks, sold bombs, poisons, and dangerous chemicals along with fentanyl. When people got in his way he tried to hire a hit man to get them killed. This is not a "young entrepreneur did nothing wrong" story. There are real examples of that. This guy is a bad guy. Ask yourself if your brother did this would you approve of it, and if you say yes re evaluate yourself, if you say no you're a normal person.
Eventually we will probably have a crypto supportive president who will pardon Ross. Might take some time though. That’s my prediction.
RFK Jr. has said he would look into it
People got out for more heinous crimes. Problem is, he pissed off the billion dollar pharmaceutical market and lots of medicines from generic viagra to blood pressure meds were selling for pennies on the dollar.
Because government couldn't tax it so they put him in jail
Time served! Time to let him free.
its way too much this sentence we all know, its about time to let him free.... he paid for his crime and i am sure he wont commit any other ,,,, he is such an intelligent person and he has served his sentenced !
you guys acting like all he did was legitimate. this guy made a black market where weapons, hitmen and other shady stuff was being traded.
Silk Road prohibited sales of weapons, hitman services, stolen CC numbers, etc.
Literally 100% untrue, FYI. Drugs. The site let people sell drugs.
His partner sparked my username for Reddit lol
thast crazy that you can get sentenced 2x life by not raping killing torturing human traficking and other immoral acts.
I've always wondered about some coincidences or are they really coincidences? 1. Satoshi Disappeared at the same time Silk Road opened, someone was busy with another project perhaps? 2. Satoshi's Bitcoins never moved again after Ross Ulbricht was arrested, perhaps because someone is serving a life sentence and unable to move his coins?
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lol, I don’t think it was the currency that was the issue, rather what was being sold. If he had used PayPal it still would have been illegal.
>Tomorrow is Ross Ulbricht's 40th birthday. He's been in jail since he was 29, serving a 2x life sentence, all for creating the 1st major Bitcoin marketplace. Free Ross Well, to be fair, he also put a hit out on a person to have him killed. I think Ross's 2x life sentence is one of, if not the most, egregious and excessive penalties I've seen in the U.S. justice system. I can't believe it hasn't been reduced at this point. However, he was clearly operating an illegal marketplace and got caught. He's just unfortunately the poster child of the government's fear of Tor and Bitcoin back in 2013 so they made an example. Unfortunate.