- Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht is set to release an NFT collection on Superare
- Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection will feature artworks from Ulbricht’s life
- The proceeds will go towards the fund to free him and a related charity
Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has announced that he is to launch a collection of NFT artworks on NFT auction house Superare in the coming days. Ulbricht, who faces the prospect of his entire life behind bars for his role in creating and running the dark web marketplace, will auction off a number of artworks that together make up the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection, the proceeds from which will naturally go towards the fund for his release.
My NFT auction will start in 2 days! 😃https://t.co/jtOPsEH9ME
— Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) November 30, 2021
NFT Collection to Reflect Ulbricht’s Life Story
Ulbricht’s NFT collection doesn’t just reflect his time behind bars. The pieces were created throughout different stages of Ulbricht’s life, from his childhood up to his time in USC Tucson. His early works depict comic book characters and animals, while the later works focus more on his emotions around the time of his trial and subsequent imprisonment.
As well as going to his release fund, proceeds from Ulbricht’s NFT collection will also help launch the charitable fund Art4Giving, which is dedicated to “relieving the suffering of the incarcerated and their families.”
Silk Road Founder Relying on Presidential Pardon
Ulbricht was arrested in October 2013 for being the mastermind behind the Silk Road marketplace and was handed a double life imprisonment plus 40 years for various crimes associated with it in February 2015. He has exhausted all appeal attempts for his sentence which many felt to be overly harsh and his only chance at release is a presidential pardon. There was talk in 2020 that former president Donald Trump would exonerate Ulbricht but this didn’t happen.
Hopefully Ulbricht’s NFT drop will increase awareness of his plight, but with many NFT buyers already knowing all about his situation it is unlikely that his auction will spread his story further.
