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 .)

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.

Donald Trump has given a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht — the man responsible for founding world's first darknet market Silk Road.

President Donald Trump has pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of darknet market Silk Road, fulfilling a campaign promise. Trump issued the order on Tuesday, the second day of his second administration.

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.

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.

President Donald Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road marketplace, delivering on a campaign promise he made to court the cryptocurrency community and libertarian voters.

The executive order also sets up a presidential working group tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework for digital assets, including stablecoins. The group’s responsibilities will include evaluating the establishment of a national digital assets stockpile.

According to Arkham Intelligence, his wallet address has received 2.62 BTC, approximately $272,000, which includes the Kraken donation. Another address associated with Ulbricht has collected $4,615 in Ethereum, USDC, Tether (USDT), and Binance Coin (BNB).

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.