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Ross Ulbricht, once the central figure behind Silk Road and now a free man, made headlines again—this time not for controversy, but for the huge wave of Bitcoin support he received. Just days after his first public appearance since leaving prison, his donation wallet was sent 300 BTC, worth roughly $31.4 million.
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Blockchain analysts at Lookonchain were first to spot the donation, which arrived early Sunday. Arkham tracking shows that a large portion of the funds quickly made their way to crypto exchange Kraken. The donation came shortly after Ulbricht took the stage at the Bitcoin 2025 conference, where he gave a brief speech—the first since his release from prison.
His release followed a pardon from former President Donald Trump, ending a sentence that began more than a decade ago. Ulbricht, known for running the infamous Silk Road dark web marketplace, had become a controversial figure in both crypto and legal circles. While many viewed him as a criminal, others campaigned for his freedom, arguing that his punishment was excessive.
Adding another layer to the story, four months back, Coinbase’s Conor Grogan highlighted that several wallets linked to Ulbricht still contain a large amount of BTC. According to Grogan, around 430 Bitcoin across various wallets remain untouched and were never seized by the U.S. government. He estimates their combined value to be close to $47 million.
“Back then, these were probably dust wallets,” Grogan said. “Now, collectively, they are worth about $47 million. Welcome back, Ross.”
Still, Grogan raised questions about whether Ulbricht has the private keys needed to access those funds. “Unlikely if he has the keys still stored down anywhere,” he added. “I guess we will know soon enough!”
Whether Ulbricht has access to the untouched wallets or not, one thing is clear—his return to public life is drawing attention, donations, and renewed debate within the crypto space.