Ross Ulbricht, creator of Silk Road and one of Bitcoin’s earliest public champions, didn’t waste time calling out Kamala Harris after she labeled him “the fentanyl dealer” in her new book, also criticizing President Trump for commuting his sentence.
Ulbricht set the record straight: he was never prosecuted for dealing drugs personally, and fentanyl wasn’t part of his charges.
Harris’s book claim sparks pushback
Ulbricht’s post pulls no punches. His message is clear: Harris’s assertion was factually inaccurate, and the motivation behind it appears political, painting both Ulbricht and President Trump in a negative light. Ulbricht wrote:
“The truth has never mattered to you. The goal is just to make me and President Trump look bad at all cost, isn’t it? Don’t be a sore loser, Kamala.”
Democrats have long been accused of hostile attitudes toward the crypto industry, ramping up regulatory crackdowns through initiatives like “Chokepoint 2.0.”
Harris’s mislabelling of Ulbricht feels like just another example of the Democrats’ broader animosity toward crypto’s disruptive potential.
Ross Ulbricht, the architect behind Silk Road
For those less familiar with crypto lore, Ross Ulbricht is the architect behind Silk Road, the infamous online marketplace that used Bitcoin for transactions at a time when most people had never even heard of the cryptocurrency.
Launched in 2011, Silk Road allowed users to buy and sell a range of goods (some legal, many not) outside the reach of traditional regulation.
Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and ultimately received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. It was a punishment many legal experts, tech leaders, and privacy advocates deemed excessive. His case became a flashpoint in debates about internet freedom, criminal justice reform, and the government’s approach to new technology.
In January 2025, President Trump commuted Ulbricht’s sentence, allowing him to walk free after more than a decade behind bars. The move was celebrated by the Bitcoin community and widely hailed as long-overdue justice. However, others, including Harris, criticized it as reckless and politically motivated.
Silk Road and its impact on Bitcoin
Regardless of where you stand on the Silk Road’s activities, its influence on Bitcoin’s development is undeniable. Silk Road gave Bitcoin its first real-world use case, demonstrating that decentralized, permissionless digital currency could actually work.
While Ulbricht didn’t invent Bitcoin, his site helped move it from an obscure experiment to a technology with global name recognition. That legacy is complicated. Critics point out that Silk Road enabled illegal activity, while supporters counter that it showed the disintermediating power of blockchain.
Even today, Ulbricht’s story is frequently cited whenever questions about crypto policy and online freedoms arise.
Ulbricht’s rebuttal to Harris is about more than setting the record straight. It’s a reminder of how contentious his case remains, not just in tech circles but on the national political stage.
Harris’s decision to characterize Ulbricht as a “fentanyl dealer,” despite the absence of such charges, speaks to the heated narrative battles that accompany presidential politics and high-profile pardons.