The post Kraken Backs Ross Ulbricht with $111K Bitcoin Donation Post-Pardon appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News After receiving a full and unconditional pardon by US President Donald Trump, as previously promised during the campaign trails in 2024, Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the defunct darknet marketplace Silk Road, is preparing to begin a new slate of life with more possibilities. The 40-year-old Bitcoin pioneer has received a warm welcome from the crypto world, which has grown to a 3 trillion dollar industry, up from around $4 billion in 2015. Furthermore, more industry leaders have been fighting for fair treatment of software developers, by the government not criminalizing the web3 builders, such as the ongoing case of Tornado Cash core creators. Kraken Exchange Steps Up Ulbricht’s Support Following the confiscation of nearly 70k Bitcoins from the Silk Road by the United States government, which the court recently ruled cannot be returned, Ulbricht’s fortune now turns to begin a new life. In a bid to help the web3 pioneer, Kraken exchange announced the donation of $111,111 in Bitcoin. Additionally, the cryptocurrency exchange welcomed the Bitcoin community to support Ulbricht, with the account balance having grown to 2.57 BTCs, worth around $263k. Meanwhile, an X account closely associated with Ulbricht recently cautioned the crypto community that he is not involved with any memecoin yet, thus hinting at possible release in the future. Happy Error? I found ~430 BTC across dozens of wallets associated with Ross Ulbricht that were not confiscated by the USGovt and have been untouched for 13+ years Back then these were probably dust wallets, now, collectively, they are worth about $47M. Welcome back Ross pic.twitter.com/KmCp4xcrI7 — Conor (@jconorgrogan) January 22, 2025 According to on-chain researcher Conor Grogan, around 430 Bitcoins, which were presumed worthless in 2015, have been scattered across dozens of addresses associated with Ulbricht. At the current price of around $102k, the 430 BTC are worth more than $43 million.
