Elon Musk urges Donald Trump to pardon ‘Bitcoin Jesus’

Elon Musk has asked Donald Trump to take action on a controversial bitcoin investor after the founder of the Silk Road dark web drug marketplace was exonerated.

Elon Musk has asked Donald Trump to issue a presidential pardon to “Bitcoin Jesus,” the man who was arrested last year on fraud and tax evasion charges.

It came as the tech billionaire applauded Mr Trump for exonerating Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark web drug marketplace, which led Mr Musk to say he was “honoured to be in the Oval Office”.

Ulbricht shared a new photo on his X platform on Wednesday AEDT dressed in grey sweats and carrying a pot plant under the caption FREEDOM!!!! The image was “loved” by Musk,

FREEDOM!!!! pic.twitter.com/itRuuyFAxe

— Free_Ross (@Free_Ross) January 22, 2025

On his platform X, Musk hinted that Roger Ver, a former California resident who calls himself “Bitcoin Jesus,” could be next.

The Bitcoin investor and promoter was arrested in Spain last April on US criminal charges including fraud and evading capital gains taxes

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX wrote on his platform X that pardoning Ver was up to Trump, but he asked “whether this is possible.”

Elon Musk and Donald Trump at a recent SpaceX launch. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

It came as Mr Trump made billions of dollars from the launch of his own crypto token within the three days before his inauguration, but he didn’t know until a reporter told him.

The US president fronted media on his first day in the White House on Wednesday and answered questions about tariffs on China, the war in Ukraine, artificial intelligence, and the LA wildfires.

Towards the end of the press conference, one reporter asked: “Do you intend to continue to sell products that benefit yourself personally while you’re president?”

US President Donald Trump speak in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. Picture: AFP

The reporter was referring to $TRUMP, the crypto meme coin launched by Mr Trump soared from 18 cents to US$75 between Friday and his inauguration on Monday – an increase of about 40,000 per cent.

Meme coins rely on social hype to attract investors and have no intrinsic value.

The move sparked conflict of interest and ethics concerns, partly because people from all over the world - including countries sanctioned by the US – were able to profit from his own assets, using unregulated platforms.

He has also been accused of benefiting from his own cryptocurrency policies with little concern for public interest.

But when asked about his own token on Wednesday, Mr Trump appeared to know very little about it.

He replied: “Well I don’t know if I’ve benefited. I don’t know where it is. I don’t know much about it other than I launched it. I heard it was very successful. I haven’t checked it. Where is it today?”

$TRUMP rose from about 18 cents to $75 cents in three days. Picture: Getty

There was a pause, before the reporter said: “You made a lot of money, sir.”

Mr Trump asked: “How much?”

The reporter said: “Several billion dollars, it seems, in the last few days.”

Referencing the three tech giants standing behind him, the president joked: “Several billion? That’s peanuts to these guys.”

He didn’t answer the question.

How did Donald Trump make billions from the sale of his meme coin, $TRUMP?

Crypto creators primarily make money from tokens by receiving a portion of transaction fees from sales, and by keeping a portion of the total pool of tokens for themselves.

If the token lifts in value and has a high number of trades, the creator makes significant profit.

In this case, $TRUMP had a trading volume of $37 billion in 24 hours to Wednesday morning. Only 20 per cent of the total amount of $TRUMP tokens are in circulation.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is pictured speaking at the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena. Picture: AFP

Why did people invest in $TRUMP?

$TRUMP was marketed as a way for people to show their support for the President, rather than as a stable investment.

The token is not rare, like market leader Bitcoin, and is not associated with an underlying business that could give it value in the future. It’s materially worthless, but meme coins gain momentum through social hype.

Crypto skyrocketed when Mr Trump won the election in November because he had spoken positively about digital assets and indicated the potential for crypto-friendly policies.

There is also a new US governmental department called DOGE, named after what was arguably the first-ever meme coin. The department will be run tech billionaire and crypto-enthusiast, Elon Musk.

People would have seen the popularity of Mr Trump, along with hopes for crypto-friendly policies, and pegged his personal token as a worthwhile, short-term investment.

Meme coins are extremely volatile and can rise in value as quickly as they fall. By the time the inauguration was over, the hype had waned and $TRUMP had dropped by 60 per cent.

Originally published as Elon Musk urges Donald Trump to pardon ‘Bitcoin Jesus’