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Mar 30 15 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Why Ross Ulbricht Is A #Bitcoin Legend

Launched the largest $BTC market at $0.50
Just turned 40, serving a 2x life sentence

A thread ✨Image
1/ Ross launched the Silk Road in 2011, a free #Bitcoin market where anything could be bought or sold

It's estimated 18% of drug users used the marketplace.

It accounted for 20% of all $BTC trading. Image
2/ By 2012, the Silk Road was so popular, it was processing $22 million in trade volume

At $12, that's 1.8 MILLION $BTC

For thousands, the Silk Road was an introduction to the power of #Bitcoin Image
3/ Silk Road employed 100s of people, who handled:
customer support, inventory, IT, marketing, quality control, and supply chain management

All were paid in #Bitcoin, the market's only currency Image
4/ Ross's motivation was ideological. It wasn't about making money.

Silk Road had its own book club, with readings on Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises 👏 Image
5/ Ross's dream was to restore power to the people, to take it back from the state.

He saw the Silk Road and #Bitcoin as powerful vehicles for promoting liberty and free trade. ⚖️ Image
6/ Ross believed #Bitcoin would stop the theft of inflation, and rid the world of the Federal Reserve. Image
7/ Ross continued to promote #Bitcoin, even when US politicians used the Silk Road as an excuse to ban it.

He saw this as an affirmation regulations were failing Image
8 / At the time of Ross's arrest, his personal wallet was confiscated by the government.

It held over 144,000 #Bitcoin, making Ross one of the largest holders of $BTC in history Image
9/ The US government auction of Ross's #Bitcoin was a huge mainstream moment.

It was seen as a milestone, the US government legitimizing the industry Image
10/ During Ross's trial, it was uncovered that the DEA agents investigating him stole 80,000 #Bitcoin.

Other key defense topics were banned from the trial: Image
11/ Today, the official platform policy of the Libertarian party calls for Ross to be pardoned and released 👏 Image
12/ Republican VP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed to pardon Ross if elected 👏 Image
13/ Today, Ross's market is considered by some "one of the largest contributions to harm reduction in narcotics distribution ever."

By anonymizing a violent trade, it's estimated he may have saved thousands of lives Image
14/ Today, the #Bitcoin community continues to fight for Ross's pardon and release.

By donating to you can help ensure Ross doesn't spend his life in prison 🧡 FreeRoss.org
Image

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More from @pete_rizzo_

Nov 12
WHY PIERRE ROCHARD IS A #BITCOIN LEGEND

Predicted Michael Saylor's $BTC strategy
Only person to ever audit Ethereum

A thread ⚡Image
1/ One of #Bitcoin's most prominent economists, Pierre is known for his “Speculative Attack” thesis

Written when $BTC was $600, he predicted "good money would drive out the bad."

He believed investors would borrow fiat and buy Bitcoin, pushing the asset above $1 million 🤯 Image
2/ Together with Michael Goldstein and Daniel Krawitz, Pierre founded the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute

It’s a treasure trove of essential #Bitcoin writings

They had a common vision – Hyperbitcoinization – a time when $BTC replaced all fiat currencies 🤩 Image
Read 17 tweets
Nov 2
*Why Plato Is a #Bitcoin Legend*

Mined $BTC when it was under $1
Traveled 3,000 miles and spent it all

| A thread ️‍🔥 Image
1. Plato discovered #Bitcoin in 2010.

He loved that it was a “limited, non-inflatable” money

He wanted spread the word – so he decided to drive from Connecticut to California. He’d spend only $BTC ❗ Image
2. Plato left home in April 2011. #Bitcoin was $1.30

At the time, almost no one accepted crypto

He relied entirely on donations and in-person trades 🤯
Read 16 tweets
Oct 31
✨ 16 facts about Satoshi Nakamoto’s #Bitcoin white paper on its 16th Birthday. A thread 🧵 Image
1/ The #Bitcoin white paper is 2,736 words long, shorter than the Magna Carta (3,550 words) and the U.S. Constitution (4,543 words)

It's half the size of the average academic paper, which is typically 4,000 to 10,000 words Image
2/ The word #Bitcoin only appears twice in the paper.

It’s widely believed Satoshi named Bitcoin late in the process, and there's evidence he may have wanted to call it “Electronic Cash” or “Netcoin.” Image
Read 17 tweets
Sep 28
*WHY ADAM BACK IS A #BITCOIN LEGEND*

Trafficked illegal code that won the Crypto War
Cited in Satoshi's white paper

A thread 🔥 Image
1/ A PhD student in the U.K., Adam Back was 25 when he started experimenting with cryptography.

He wanted to shift the balance of power

He saw it as a way to undermine oppressive states ✊
2/ Adam quickly joined the Cypherpunk Mailing List

The forum was a cultural force.

The cypherpunks were fighting for privacy and digital rights 👏
Read 18 tweets
Sep 26
*Why Ross Ulbricht Is A #Bitcoin Legend*

Launched the first $BTC market at $0.50
Had 200,000 BTC stolen by the government
Serving a 2x life sentence

| A thread Image
1/ Ross launched an online market called Silk Road in 2011.

It would become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms on the internet

At its peak, it was responsible for 90% of #Bitcoin transactions ❗ Image
2/ A website where (almost) anything could be bought or sold, by 2012, Silk Road was doing $22 million in sales

It accepted only #Bitcoin.

At $12, that was 2,000,000 $BTC annually 🤯 Image
Read 17 tweets
Sep 21
This is Gummo.

He grew up poor, dropped out of school, stole cars, and became a hacker. Now, he’s a BILLIONAIRE.

The Amazing True Story of how #Bitcoin made him one of the wealthiest people in the world 👀 Image
1. Born in Florida, Gummo grew up poor

His mother died. His father went to prison

He bought a TRS-80 Model II and learned to code 👏
2. Gummo became a professional white-hat hacker

This was when cybersecurity was just becoming an industry

Here he is hacking a “multi-million IT security system” just to get access to the internet 😮
Read 17 tweets

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