New Delhi, Jan. 31 -- On 20 January 2025, former President Donald Trump surprised everyone by giving a full presidential pardon to Ross Ulbricht, the man behind Silk Road, a global digital platform on the 'Dark Web' for trading in drugs and other contraband.

Ulbricht is perhaps the world's first great cybercriminal and has inspired legions of crime entrepreneurs. He was also the first entrepreneur to provide 'proof of concept' of Bitcoin as a digital currency. Interestingly, this pardon in the US does not give him immunity from being tried for money laundering in other countries.

Silk Road was an online marketplace for trading in contraband. It maintained the anonymity of vendors and users through a two-pronged strategy.

First, the pla...