Ross Ulbricht auctions prison items for Bitcoin
Ross Ulbricht auctions prison art
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the infamous darknet marketplace Silk Road, has earned over $1.8 million in Bitcoin by auctioning off personal belongings and artwork from his time behind bars.
Recently released from prison following a surprise presidential pardon by Donald Trump during his second term, Ulbricht appears to be turning the page, parting ways with mementos from his incarceration, according to CoinGape.
Artifacts sold on Scare City
The auction took place on Scare City, a Bitcoin-based marketplace, where Ulbricht listed several artifacts tied to his time in federal prison. One of the most sought-after items was his prison ID card, which sold for 5.5 BTC. The card, featuring a smiling Ulbricht, quickly became a cult collectible within the crypto community.
Other auctioned items included his prison notebook, which fetched 1.06 BTC, and a pair of prison sneakers, which sold for 0.54 BTC. Ulbricht also offered more mundane objects such as his prison sweatsuit, the lock from his prison locker, and various personal items dating back to before his 2013 arrest. Despite an 8% drop in Bitcoin’s price at the time of sale, the total proceeds exceeded $1.8 million—highlighting strong demand from both supporters and collectors.
Adding even more depth to the auction, Ulbricht included three oil paintings he created while incarcerated. What began as a therapeutic pastime became a lucrative asset: one painting titled Archway sold for 1.01 BTC, and the other two fetched a combined 1.40 BTC.
Public return and industry shifts
Sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for his role in launching and operating Silk Road, Ulbricht spent over a decade behind bars before receiving clemency. Silk Road had served as an online marketplace for illegal goods, including drugs and forged documents, enabling anonymous Bitcoin transactions.
Ulbricht made a surprise public appearance at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, where he delivered a keynote speech and thanked the crypto community for its unwavering support.
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The industry welcomed him back, with crypto exchange Kraken donating $111,111 in BTC to aid his reintegration.
His release comes amid shifting U.S. regulatory attitudes toward cryptocurrencies, signaling broader institutional acceptance and a potential future for once-outlaw figures in the evolving digital economy.
