Big cases look at politics, medium cases look at influence, and small cases look at the law.
Written by: Zuo Ye, Crooked Neck Mountain
Madmen Inside and Outside the Prison
At the beginning of Trump's presidency, Musk tweeted to suggest that the new president would pardon Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, or "Pirate Roberts." A brief mention of his glorious past: starting in 2011, Ross founded the dark web e-commerce platform Silk Road, allowing people to freely buy and sell various drugs, including marijuana and heroin, thus profiting over 170,000 bitcoins.
Ross Ulbricht himself was sentenced to life in prison. As of 2025, he has been incarcerated for 11 years, or more precisely, 4,125 days, and he has reached the age of reason.
In theory, this matter was merely a routine police and drug dealer affair, but because it involved bitcoin and the person of Ross Ulbricht, things began to gradually become absurd:
Ross used bitcoin and the e-commerce platform to counter fiat currency and the Federal Reserve, subjectively not for profit, as the price of bitcoin was very low at that time. Under his "regulated" operation, both buyers and sellers needed to operate with integrity, ensuring quality and quantity, which to some extent created a safer business model than street selling, protecting human rights and practicing the principles of a free market.
Ross himself is a so-called "libertarian," a staunch believer in figures like Hayek, who believes that everyone has the right to choose their own actions and be responsible for them, which essentially does not harm others.
Thus, the story gradually shifted from "drug dealer arrested" to something increasingly absurd. After his conviction in 2015, his wife and parents began to take action, joining forces with the Libertarian Party, the de facto third largest party in the U.S., to launch the Free Ross movement, hoping to reduce his sentence or obtain a pardon.
With the continued efforts of this movement, several liberal political figures expressed their support, and even Ross himself conveyed his thoughts and articles through his wife. His wife's managed X account has over 230,000 followers, and there are 600,000 signatures requesting his pardon.
As the saying goes, "Big cases look at politics, medium cases look at influence, and small cases look at the law." Ross's arrest and conviction are legal actions, the Free Ross movement is influence, and now it comes to political action, where the core of all politics in the U.S. is elections.
From then on, it became linked to Trump, as Ross had become one of the core issues for Libertarian voters. Although the U.S. has a two-party system with Democrats and Republicans vying for the presidency, the Libertarian Party also has over 600,000 votes, making every single vote extremely precious in a closely contested two-party race.
Thus, there was Trump's support for strict drug prohibition, but it did not hinder his contrasting statement of "he is a libertarian." In May 2024, Trump first stated that he would pardon Ross Ulbricht on the day he is elected, making this boast at the Libertarian National Convention.
There was also an episode: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated by Trump, anti-vaccine, and from the Kennedy family, is from the Libertarian Party. He was eliminated in the Libertarian Party's presidential primary voting, which planted the seed for his switch to Trump.
Therefore, Trump's intention to pardon Ross Ulbricht is purely a vote-gathering move. According to his own attitude towards drugs, it is unlikely that he would have much interest in "libertarianism." Whether he will fulfill this promise depends on whether Musk's prodding can be effective, after all, he is a true libertarian.
Libertarianism
As previously mentioned, Ross is in prison but his mind is within the circle. He has expressed his thoughts in various ways, but one thing is clear: he has never "pleaded guilty," meaning he still identifies as a libertarian.
Given this, we must explain what kind of liberalism this is. If classified according to classical schools, liberalism can be roughly divided into three main categories: classical liberalism, neoliberalism, and social liberalism. This is not to say there are no other branches, but these three are the most typical and popular.
Classical liberalism, represented by Enlightenment figure Rousseau, mainly opposes feudalism and monarchy, emphasizing the importance of individual freedom. Neoliberalism, on the other hand, was vigorously promoted by the U.S. in the late Cold War, emphasizing small government and free markets. For example, Trump's idol, President Reagan, used this to defeat the Soviet ideological framework.
Social liberalism is less discussed; it resembles a leftist political thought combined with Keynesian economics, emphasizing welfare and equality, and is relatively marginal in the current political ecology of Europe and America.
Ross Ulbricht adheres to libertarianism, which is even more heavyweight, and can be termed absolute liberalism. The theoretical core is that everyone has the right to engage in any behavior that does not harm others and can act entirely according to their own will, including selling their own body and parts of their body.
Thus, according to the libertarian agenda, Ross Ulbricht's actions do not involve coercing others; one could even say he is helping others realize their own free will.
This is why Vitalik would support Ross Ulbricht, as he also advocates for everyone's freedom to profit by selling their own body;
This is also why Musk supports Ross Ulbricht, after all, running an online store is hardly a "crime" compared to brain implants and biological experiments.
However, it should be noted that Trump has not promised to definitely "pardon" Ross Ulbricht; some form of sentence reduction could also fulfill his promise. Given the previous U.S. president's abuse of the pardon power, Trump would not face much resistance in pardoning a non-political figure, entirely depending on whether he cares about the Libertarian Party and its supporters.
Conclusion
At first glance, Trump's intention to pardon the founder of Silk Road might suggest a reconciliation with criminals, but in reality, it is just a boring game for votes. Even when Trump claims to be a libertarian, the Libertarian attendees at the conference do not believe him and burst into laughter.
In summary, Trump's potential pardon of Ross Ulbricht has become a multifaceted "Rashomon." Bitcoin enthusiasts may see it as Trump supporting bitcoin, while libertarians may interpret it as Trump supporting libertarianism.
Everyone hopes to see their preferred content in it. The underlying theory of libertarianism is indeed the foundation of libertarian thought. Under the previous president's "abuse" of pardon power, the authority of the judiciary has been diminishing. Whether Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht or not will not become a significant boon for bitcoin or libertarians.
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