Ross Ulbricht sets the record straight as Kamala Harris’s critique misses the mark

Ross Ulbricht, creator of Silk Road and considered one of Bitcoin’s earliest public champions, didn’t waste time calling out Kamala Harris after she labeled him “the fentanyl vendor” in her new e-book, additionally criticizing President Trump for commuting his sentence.

Ulbricht set the record straight: he was by no means prosecuted for dealing medicine personally, and fentanyl wasn’t a part of his prices.

Harris’s e-book declare sparks pushback

Ulbricht’s submit pulls no punches. His message is evident: Harris’s assertion was factually inaccurate, and the motivation behind it seems political, portray each Ulbricht and President Trump in a adverse gentle. Ulbricht wrote:

“The reality has by no means mattered to you. The purpose is simply to make me and President Trump look dangerous in any respect price, isn’t it? Don’t be a sore loser, Kamala.”

Democrats have lengthy been accused of hostile attitudes towards the crypto trade, ramping up regulatory crackdowns by way of initiatives like “Chokepoint 2.0.”

Harris’s mislabelling of Ulbricht appears like simply one other instance of the Democrats’ broader animosity towards crypto’s disruptive potential.

Ross Ulbricht, the architect behind Silk Road

For these much less aware of crypto lore, Ross Ulbricht is the architect behind Silk Road, the notorious on-line market that used Bitcoin for transactions at a time when most individuals had by no means even heard of the cryptocurrency.

Launched in 2011, Silk Road allowed customers to purchase and promote a spread of products (some authorized, many not) outdoors the attain of conventional regulation.

Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and finally obtained a life sentence with out the chance of parole. It was a punishment many authorized consultants, tech leaders, and privateness advocates deemed extreme. His case grew to become a flashpoint in debates about web freedom, prison justice reform, and the authorities’s method to new expertise.

In January 2025, President Trump commuted Ulbricht’s sentence, permitting him to stroll free after greater than a decade behind bars. The transfer was celebrated by the Bitcoin neighborhood and broadly hailed as long-overdue justice. However, others, together with Harris, criticized it as reckless and politically motivated.

Silk Road and its influence on Bitcoin

Regardless of the place you stand on the Silk Road’s actions, its affect on Bitcoin’s improvement is plain. Silk Road gave Bitcoin its first real-world use case, demonstrating that decentralized, permissionless digital forex might really work.

While Ulbricht didn’t invent Bitcoin, his web site helped transfer it from an obscure experiment to a expertise with international identify recognition. That legacy is difficult. Critics level out that Silk Road enabled criminal activity, whereas supporters counter that it confirmed the disintermediating energy of blockchain.

Even as we speak, Ulbricht’s story is steadily cited each time questions on crypto coverage and on-line freedoms come up.

Ulbricht’s rebuttal to Harris is about greater than setting the record straight. It’s a reminder of how contentious his case stays, not simply in tech circles however on the nationwide political stage.

Harris’s resolution to characterize Ulbricht as a “fentanyl vendor,” regardless of the absence of such prices, speaks to the heated narrative battles that accompany presidential politics and high-profile pardons.

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