President Donald Trump did not mention bitcoin (BTC) during his inaugural address and crypto was 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 shot up to 99% after posts on X from Elon Musk and Angela McArdle, chairwoman of the Libertarian National Committee, said a pardon for Ulbricht was on its way.
Pres. Trump’s staff just confirmed to me that Ross’ pardon will be issued late tonight or tomorrow morning. ❤️
— Angela McArdle (@angela4LNCChair) 21 January 2025
Trump first promised to pardon Ulbricht during a campaign stop at the Libertarian National Convention last May.
“If you vote for me, on Day 1 I will commute Ross Ulbricht’s sentence to time served,” Trump said during a speech last year. “He has already served 11 years, we will get him home.”
Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015 for his role in running the Silk Road marketplace, which pioneered the use of the dark web.
Supporters of Ulbricht say his sentence was disproportionately long for the crime.
Elsewhere on the Polymarket pardon list is Roger Ver, an early bitcoin investor and bitcoin cash (BCH) proponent who was indicted for tax fraud last April, and the market is giving a 32% chance of a pardon within the first 100 days.
Despite crypto playing a prominent part in Trump’s campaign, Polymarket punters only give 43% of a crypto executive order regarding the use, trade or legal status of digital assets that happens in the first week.