President Donald Trump didn’t mention bitcoin (BTC) during his inaugural address and cryptocurrencies were absent from his first batch of executive orders, but Polymarket bettors are confident that a pardon for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is coming soon.
A Polymarket contract asking who Trump will pardon in his first 100 days in office soared to 99% after posts on X by Elon Musk and Angela McArdle, chairwoman of the Libertarian National Committee, said a Sorry to Ulbricht.
Trump’s staff just confirmed to me that Ross’s pardon will be granted tonight or tomorrow morning. ❤️
– Angela McArdle (@angela4LNCChair) January 21, 2025
Trump first promised to pardon Ulbricht during a campaign rally at the Libertarian National Convention last May.
“If you vote for me, on Day 1, I will commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence to a sentence of time served,” Trump said during a speech last year. “He’s already turned 11, we’re taking him home.”
Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015 for his role in operating the Silk Road market, which pioneered the use of the dark web.
Ulbricht’s supporters say his sentence was disproportionately long for the crime.
Elsewhere on Polymarket’s pardon list is Roger Ver, an early bitcoin investor and bitcoin cash (BCH) advocate, who was charged with tax fraud last April, and the market gives a 32% chance of that a pardon occurs in the first 100 days. .
Even though cryptocurrencies played a prominent role in Trump’s campaign, Polymarket bettors are only giving 43% of a cryptocurrency executive order, regarding the use, trading or legal status of digital assets, which will take place in the first week.
