‘Free Ross’: Why Trump Wants Ross Ulbricht Released From Prison

Donald Trump has made a raft of promises to the crypto community should he win the US presidential election in November, including a pledge to commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of dark-web marketplace Silk Road.

Ulbricht, 40, was once better known by his online pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts” — a name taken from the film The Princess Bride. In 2011 he founded Silk Road, an online exchange that enabled users to anonymously buy and sell illegal goods and services with Bitcoin. During the two years it was in operation, more than $200 million worth of illicit activity flowed through the site, according to the Department of Justice. Ulbricht, who grew up in Austin, Texas and became an Eagle Scout, holds degrees in physics and materials science from the University of Texas and Pennsylvania State University, according to a website dedicated to the so-called Free Ross campaign.