I just noticed a rather historic event for the crypto community. On January 21, President Trump carried out his campaign promise—pardoning Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, after 12 years of imprisonment. This is a pretty clear sign that Trump seems to want to keep his word with the crypto community.

There’s an interesting point here. Ross Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 for his role in the Silk Road darknet, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of pardon. But many people in the crypto industry believe this sentence was unfair. Mati Greenspan of Quantum Economics said Ulbricht was punished harshly not because of actual harm, but because he was an early crypto builder—they wanted to make an example of him.

The question is: does this pardon truly affect how Bitcoin is perceived? According to Lucien Bourdon, a Bitcoin analyst at Trezor, Ulbricht’s case is often seen as a symbol of government interference. The pardon could help shift the Bitcoin narrative from “a tool for crime” to “neutral technology and innovation.”

On the other hand, Greenspan doesn’t think that releasing Ulbricht will have a significant impact on how the public views Bitcoin. But more importantly, it shows that Trump is keeping his promise. According to him, this increases the likelihood that the US will pass crypto-friendly legislation and create a strategic Bitcoin reserve fund.

Harry Halpin from Nym Technologies said he was initially doubtful that Trump would pardon Ross Ulbricht, but he was surprised. The next question is what else Trump will do—will he pardon Edward Snowden? Or will he address other cases involving developers such as Roman Storm of Tornado Cash?

The community is waiting to see how serious Trump really is about crypto. The event took place on the same day that a US court dismissed sanctions against the Tornado Cash protocol—another sign of a shift toward privacy-friendly regulation. Everything points in one direction, and the community is eager to see what comes next.