Ross is now free. I predict this will be the one good thing to come out of this administration in the grand scheme of things. The reasons behind this pardon were purely political, but regardless of that I am incredibly happy to see Ross reunited with his family and loved ones. Even taking all the accusations against him at prima facie, both those actually charged and those not, Ross has unquestionably served his time.
Actual murders and rapists serve a tiny fraction of the sentence that was levied against Ross, even after multiple offenses in some cases. His sentencing was entirely political, and in no way proportional to the charges brought against him. The severity was so high for one reason: to set an example.
He is not the only example governments have tried to make since 2013. The Samourai Wallet team are currently under house arrest awaiting trial for hosting the backend for a 100% self-custodial service. Roman Sterlingov is in jail for running a centralized mixer, with no evidence other than flawed blockchain heuristics. The Tornado Cash case has developers dealing with cases and jail time in multiple jurisdictions.
All of these go far beyond the pale of what happened to Ross, in terms of legal standing. Ross’s sentence was insanely disproportionate, but the legal basis itself for these other cases is non-existent. They charged them anyway. Some of them, they convicted them anyways. These people are sitting in jail, just like Ross, anyways.
The government is not going to stop making examples. It doesn’t matter that Trump enjoys the benefits of the unregulated monetary extraction possible in this space, it doesn’t matter that Wall Street and D.C. see value they can take advantage of, none of that matters.
These power brokers and figure heads realizing they can set up a grift, or skim money out of the economy being built here, doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make them fans of privacy. It doesn’t make them fans of true sovereignty for the individual. It doesn’t make them fans of actually free markets that don’t cater to corporate interests preferentially.
We need tools to actually facilitate all of these things, but building them means you are a potential target.
If you actually care about these things, you know this isn’t over. One man who was unjustly imprisoned is free, and that is an amazing thing. He can see his parents again, his wife, his friends, and that is truly a priceless accomplishment.
But this is not over. Not by a long shot. The music came on, people switched chairs, and it stopped again. But it’s still the same game being played, and we can’t lose sight of that.
