Ross Ulbricht, the convicted mastermind behind Silk Road on the now defunct dark web market, created quite a stir on crypto Twitter with his NFT auction date. A Twitter account run by a Ulbricht supporter has announced that the auction for his NFT collection will begin in two days. The NFT collection called “Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection” will be available on the Superare NFT market from December 2 to December 8.
Got bitcoin maxis trying to cancel @RealRossU for selling NFTs to raise funds for the detainees.
One tweet says “how to lose your fan base”.
This man served life in prison and has done more for bitcoin than all the laser eye cults combined.
Tender Ross NFTs.
– Cobie (@cobie) November 30, 2021
The auction will see 11 Ulbricht personal and hand-painted art collections minted into NFTs put under hammer. The artworks come from different periods in Ulbricht’s life and proceeds from the auction will be used to create a fund to support his efforts to be free. The crypto community has encouraged the decision despite many arguing that it will deplete his fan base. A crypto influencer known as Crypto Cobain praised the effort and called out those with negative views. He also said that Ulbricht has probably done more for the Bitcoin community “than all the laser-eye cults combined. ”
Got bitcoin maxis trying to cancel @RealRossU for selling NFTs to raise funds for the detainees.
One tweet says “how to lose your fan base”.
This man served life in prison and has done more for bitcoin than all the laser eye cults combined.
Tender Ross NFTs.
– Cobie (@cobie) November 30, 2021
Ulbricht is currently serving two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years in prison for his role in creating and running the infamous Silk Road marketplace. A darknet market is a free market where buyers and sellers connect anonymously to make transactions. The Silk Road started in 2011 and was eventually bankrupted and closed by the authorities in 2013 following the arrest of Ulbricht. In two years of being online, Silk Road totaled $1.2 billion in transactions.
Many consider Ulbricht’s two life sentences too harsh a punishment for a nonviolent crime and have rallied support to set him free for years. His supporters also rallied for him to be pardoned by former President Donald Trump.
Bitcoin (BTC) Silk Road Connection
Silk Road is also credited for popularizing the use of Bitcoin (BTC) on the darknet and that gave the digital currency and early traction and also helped it become mainstream news.
The notion that Bitcoin is a perfect tool for criminals stems primarily from its early use on the Silk Road. However, the Bitcoin community could not be more grateful and have always rallied in support of Ulbricht.