Cryptocurrency enthusiasts welcomed President Trump’s pardoning of Ross Ulbricht, who had been serving a life sentence without parole for running underground drug bazaar Silk Ro

Donald Trump pardoned the creator of the world’s first dark-web drug market, who is now a libertarian cause célèbre in some parts of the crypto community.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace where drug dealers and others conducted more than $200 million in illicit trade using bitcoin.

On his second day back in office, President Donald Trump issued a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of dark-web marketplace Silk Road. Trump had pledged to free Ulbricht as part of a raft of promises made to the cryptocurrency community while on the campaign trail.

Ulbricht, 40, was about 10 years into his life sentence for helming an online black market where drug dealers, money launderers, and traffickers used bitcoins to mask more than $214 million in illicit trades. (Ars thoroughly documented the Silk Road saga here .)

On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin jumped to more than $104,000, following Donald Trump’s announcement of a presidential pardon for Silk Road and bitcoin-libertarian folk hero Ross Ulbricht. The digital asset community also eagerly anticipated a flood of crypto executive orders that would overturn years of perceived regulatory slights.

The pardon is a big deal for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and libertarians, who have been pushing for Ulbricht’s sentence to be absolved for years.

Libertarian activists, who generally oppose criminal drug policies, argued the government overreached in building its case against Ross Ulbricht and the dark web marketplace Silk Road.

The appointment brings a veteran of a major credit card network player to the company’s board at a time when cryptocurrency firms are looking to establish higher trust and credibility.

Introduction Overview of Cryptocurrency Regulation Cryptocurrency regulation is an evolving field that reflects the rapid growth and integration of digital assets into mainstream finance. As cryptocurrencies moved from fringe technology to notable investment opportunities,

Until, of course, in 2013 the Silk Road was shut down by FBI agents and Mr Ulbricht, then 29 years old, was arrested in the science-fiction section of a San Francisco public library. In 2015, after a four-week trial,