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

Law enforcement said Ulbricht created the “most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace” on the internet.

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 .)

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.

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

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

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.

Donald Trump has granted a full pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of online drug marketplace Silk Road who became a hero for America’s libertarian movement.

The United States president pardoned the founder of the underground illicit drugs marketplace, as part of a raft of sweeping announcements during the first two days of his new administration.

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.