Imprisoned for life since the end of 2013, the former leader of an “Amazon of illicit products” on the Dark Web offers a collection of drawings up for auction. For the purpose of redemption or to aid in his release?
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[EN VIDÉO] How does cryptocurrency work? Like Bitcoin, today there are more than 6,000 cryptocurrencies in the world. These currencies are based on blockchain technology.
Ross Ulbritch. This name does not necessarily mean something to you. Yet it is one of the names that made the history of the young cryptomonnaie. Admittedly, it did not necessarily contribute to the good reputation of the domain …
Ulbritch has long been known by a pseudonym that speaks volumes: Dread Pirate Roberts. He officiated on the Dark Web, this Internet hidden inaccessible to Google and other traditional search engines. What the pirate had created in 2011 was The Silk Road (“The silk road”), a kind of Amazon of illicit activities: drugs, hired killers … Very quickly, Ulbritch had set his sights on the Bitcoin, Due to anonymity payments. Proud and brave, Ulbritch had gone so far as to extol the merits of the thing in an interview with the magazine Forbes – an advertisement which Bitcoin, still young, would have gladly done without.
Caught in his own trap
However, the FBI was stronger. Impersonating a potential customer of a large amount of cocaine, an officer struck up a conversation with Dread Pirate Roberts in April 2012. The delivery of the goods made it possible to arrest Green, his right-hand man. As he was told that the latter would have confessed, Ulbricht then ordered a hitman to liquidate Green. Again, it was the FBI who faked the assassination.
Shortly after, the 1is October 2013, in the San Francisco library, plainclothes FBI agents belted a 28-year-old young man. They managed to block Ulbricht before he managed to close the screen on his PC keyboard – which would have encrypted the transaction history of The Silk Road. The site was immediately closed. Ulbricht, for his part, received a double sentence of life imprisonment.
A conversion to graphic arts
In prison since the end of 2013, Ulbricht discovered a passion for drawing. He thus produced a series of visuals in which he depicts various episodes of his existence, from childhood to his imprisonment.
For her part, Lyn, the mother of Ross Ulbritch set up the site FreeRoss.org. She therefore decided to sell her offspring’s drawings as a collection of NFTs, auctioned on the platform SuperRare.
On the Medium site, Ross Ulbrich expressed the desire to be able to use the results of these auctions to relieve the sorrows of those he meets behind bars. He intends to launch Art4Giving, an association ” dedicated to alleviating the suffering of inmates and their families ».
« There is a tremendous amount that we can do with the proceeds of this sale. But I pledge to help children travel to visit their moms and dads in prison “. Lyn Ulbricht for her part, has always fought a desperate battle in defense of her son and suggests that part of the funds can be used to obtain a possible release of the one she would like to believe is innocent.
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