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The founding father of the darknet market Silk Road which dealt completely with Bitcoin, Ross Ulbricht, not too long ago announced that he had spent 10 years in jail. Despite his fraudulent actions, Ulbricht is a well-liked determine within the crypto group as he’s believed to have contributed to the accelerated adoption of the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. 

Silk Road And Bitcoin Adoption

Silk Road was an internet black platform that was used to facilitate unlawful actions, together with drug commerce and cash laundering. Interestingly, Bitcoin was the one forex used to facilitate these transactions, as Ulbricht is claimed to have been an enormous proponent of the flagship cryptocurrency.

According to Ulbricht’s mother, her son created the Silk Road with the intention of offering a “truly free market.” She stated he used Bitcoin because the platform’s forex as a result of he believed within the “monetary freedom” that the forex offered. 

His actions undoubtedly helped to extend Bitcoin’s utility and recognition (though not essentially in a great way). In reality, some think about Silk Road as Bitcoin’s “first significant use case” because it exemplified what might be achieved (the nice and the unhealthy) with the decentralized forex. 

Silk Road is claimed to have processed as a lot as $45 million yearly in gross sales (all in Bitcoin). There is little doubt that the platform offered early liquidity to the ecosystem as such determine means that there was an enormous demand for the forex simply on account of transactions on the Silk Road platform. 

Ulbricht Silk Road was even rumored to have been one of many largest holders of BTC in some unspecified time in the future. Law enforcement is said to have confiscated a complete of 174,000 BTC from Ulbricht and the Silk Road syndicate. 

The use of Bitcoin on the platform additionally offered perception into how Bitcoin (and different cryptocurrencies) may disrupt the monetary system and turn into the go-to choice for every day transactions, particularly because the world continues to undertake decentralized programs.

Ross Ulbricht Shows Remorse

Meanwhile, the Silk Road founder has continued to precise regret for his actions on his X (previously Twitter) platform. However, it’s believed {that a} relative manages the web page, contemplating that Ulbricht remains to be in jail. 

In his newest put up, saying 10 years in jail, he admitted that his “poor choices” led him to the place he’s now, and all that he may do was pray for mercy. 

Many have additionally jumped to his protection and proceed to clamor that injustice was finished in how his case was dealt with. Some imagine he didn’t deserve the punishment as a result of it didn’t match the crime. Ulbricht’s sentence is life imprisonment with out the potential for parole.  

BTC worth rises above $28,000 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com

Featured picture from Vicarius, chart from Tradingview.com