Newcomers to Bitcoin may not understand why old timers care so much about Ross Ulbricht. Let me explain. He embodied the ethos of early Bitcoin more than anyone. He was an entrepreneur who created a thriving marketplace. He believed in radical freedom, including the freedom to trade anything with anyone else so long as it was peaceful and voluntary. He regularly wrote about his views on freedom and why he built the first truly successful Bitcoin business - the Silk Road. He wanted to created a better world and believed his principles deeply. Politicians like Schumer targeted both Silk Road AND Bitcoin as criminal enterprises that needed to be shut down. When he was convicted the judge and the establishment threw the book at him. He was a first time, non violent criminal and they locked him up and effectively threw away the key. In the early Bitcoin community we all felt how unjust this was. It was like they were locking up one of our own out of spite for what we all believed was a peaceful revolution. Now tens of millions of people own Bitcoin and many just because of Number Go Up. Never forget there was a deeper purpose here and that getting rich is a nice side effect of that greater purpose. Fix the money, fix the world.
