Ross Ulbricht Marks Fifth Anniversary in Prison

Alleged founder of Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, marked his fifth year in prison. October 1st, 2013, Mr. Ulbricht began a double life sentence without the possibility of parole for his alleged founding and running of the Silk Road online marketplace. On the occasion of his fifth full year, FreeRoss.org launched a new project to raise awareness … Read more

Government-Funded Drug Trafficking Makes USD the World’s Dirtiest Currency

Pablo Escobar. Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán. Rick Ross. Household names, each and every one of them; drug lords collectively responsible for punting billions of dollars’ worth of narcotics. Yet their crimes pale in comparison to those their prosecutors have been perpetrating for years. After decades of fueling proxy wars and trafficking, the US government has … Read more

Bitcoin is a Permissionless, Decentralized Firearm: Cody Wilson is Satoshi Nakamoto

The path to a cryptocurrency revolution might just run through a sleepy Austin, Texas industrial park, home to offices of Cody Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed in the United States. Parallels exist between downloadable files from a website, allowing users access to 3D printable firearms, and a permissionless, decentralized, censorship-resistant medium of exchange. If … Read more

Silk Road Questions Unanswered as Ulbricht Gathers 60K Clemency Signatures

Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison back in 2015 for operating the Silk Road marketplace but many people believe he should be set free. The Ulbricht family, aided by his new Twitter account @RealRossU, has managed to gather close to 60,000 signatures in a petition for his clemency. Meanwhile, many questions surrounding the … Read more

The Weekly: Musk Bots Blocked, US Crypto Candidate, a Herd of Institutional Investors

In this week’s daily editions of Bitcoin in Brief, we reported about Twitter blocking ETH scambots mimicking Elon Musk, a US presidential candidate who accepts crypto donations, the expected arrival of a ‘herd of institutional investors’ and much more. The most commented-on article during the week covered the latest development of the ongoing legal battle … Read more

Ross Ulbricht Murder-for-Hire Indictment to Be Dismissed

Robert K. Hur, United States Attorney from the Maryland district, filed a motion on July 20, 2018 to dismiss a 2013 three-count indictment against Ross Ulbricht which included murder-for-hire allegations. Mr. Ulbricht, 34, was prosecuted under a separate indictment out of the New York district as Dread Pirate Roberts, principal operator of underground online marketplace … Read more

#FreeRoss Activities Are Gaining Steam

The trial and conviction of Ross Ulbricht for his administration of the Silk Road darknet market represented a landmark event in cryptocurrency. For many, the investigation and sentencing were a contradiction to the commonly held belief that cryptocurrency and activities involving cryptocurrency could not be regulated by the government. For others, the injustices and illegalities … Read more

Ross Ulbricht Joins Twitter

Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, serving life in prison without parole, has joined Twitter. While denied direct internet access from behind bars, he is now able to communicate with the Twittersphere, in a fashion, with the aid of hand-written notes posted to a Twitter account in his name. It is hoped the account will keep … Read more

Change.org Petition Attempts to Fight for Ross Ulbricht’s Freedom

After being denied a post-conviction relief extension in February 2018, Ross Ulbricht’s family and legal team filed a Petition of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court based on constitutional violations in the investigation and at sentencing. The petition was supported by 21 organizations, however, the Court denied Ulbricht’s petition on June 28. The fight to … Read more

Dark Web Alleged Silk Road Conspirator Handed to US Authorities

Dark web alleged Silk Road conspirator, Gary Davis of Ireland, agreed recently to be extradited to the United States. Once on US soil, he will face charges levied against him five years ago in connection with the eventual conviction of Ross Ulbricht (who prosecutors claim was the site’s mastermind). Mr. Davis, should he be convicted, … Read more