Elon Musk Says Silk Road Founder Ross Ulbricht's Sentence Seems A 'Bit High'

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk, responding to a comment on social media, said that the punishment handed down to convicted darknet market operator Ross Ulbricht seemed a “bit high.”

What Happened: Ulbricht is serving a double life sentence for his role in creating the infamous Silk Road marketplace on the dark web that accepted Bitcoin (BTC) for payments.

Musk was asked a question by a user on Twitter Inc’s TWTR platform on freeing Ulbricht. 

He definitely has issues, but the sentencing seems a bit high

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2021

Why It Matters: It is thought that Silk Road generated commissions to the extent of almost 600,000 bitcoins during its operational years before it was shut down by authorities in 2013. In today’s dollars that would be worth nearly 26.86 billion.

Former President Donald Trump was said to be considering a pardon for Ulbricht, but ultimately he did not receive one, according to CoinDesk.

Trump did however pardon Ken Kurson, a former board member of Ripple, who was reportedly arrested in October on charges related to cyberstalking of his spouse. 

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 5.26% lower at $804.82 on Wednesday and gained almost 0.6% in the after-hours session. BTC traded 2.08% lower at $44,765.59 at press time.