Until, of course, in 2013 the Silk Road was shut down by FBI agents and Mr Ulbricht, then 29 years old, was arrested in the science-fiction section of a San Francisco public library. In 2015, after a four-week trial,

Ulbricht, 40, was about 10 years into his life sentence for helming an online black market where drug dealers, money launderers, and traffickers used bitcoins to mask more than $214 million in illicit trades. (Ars thoroughly documented the Silk Road saga here .)

The pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht by US President Donald Trump marks a historic event for crypto, but its impact on the public image of Bitcoin is a mixed bag. On Jan. 21, Trump followed through on his campaign promise to release Ulbricht from prison after 12 years of incarceration.