Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is free after President Donald Trump pardoned him. But who is he and what did he do?

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.

Ross Ulbricht is free, but unproven allegations against the Silk Road founder overshadow his well deserved pardon in some corners of the internet.

Console Wars’ duo Jonah Tulis and Blake J. Harris have conducted more than 60 hours of interviews with Ulbricht, who became a cause célèbre among libertarians and cryptocurrency enthusiasts after being handed two life sentences.

Bitcoin is up nearly 5% after Donald Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of darkweb marketplace Silk Road.

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.

In 2015, a 31-year-old yoga enthusiast from Austin named Ross Ulbricht was found guilty of being the online drug kingpin “Dread Pirate Roberts.” Convicted on 7 counts, the judge sentenced him to life in prison. Trump pardoned Ulbricht on Tuesday and now he’s a free man after more than 10 years in custody.

Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 on charges related to his website, where users could buy and sell drugs and other illegal goods with bitcoin.

Ross Ulbricht, known for creating the Silk Road website, was sentenced to life in prison in 2015. The site, accessible only through Tor, allowed anonymous purchases of illegal goods using Bitcoin. President Trump recently pardoned Ulbricht, sparking discussions within the crypto community.

Libertarian and crypto allies of Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for distributing drugs on his Silk Road website, leveraged President Trump’s desire for political support to secure his release.

Social media slams Donald Trump for giving Silk Road operator and notorious drug dealer Ross Ulbricht an unconditional pardon.