Ross Ulbricht Memecoin Plummets 90% Upon Presidential Pardon

President Donald Trump pardoned and released Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, on Jan. 21, and while most of the crypto community is celebrating the milestone, ROSS memecoin holders are probably not as thrilled.

The unofficial ROSS memecoin, which tapped an all-time high of $40 million on the news of his release, quickly plummeted down 90% and is currently changing hands at a $2.2 million market capitalization.

Some large holders of the token treated his release as a sell-the-news event, especially since Ross confirmed via X on Jan. 19 that he is not involved or supporting any memecoin, and “There is no official Ross coin.”

One of the proponents of the ROSS coin, known as Squiggly Hair Shanks on X said “absolutely brutal PA on $ross upon release. it did NOT go as i thought, two giant whales offloaded immediately after the news…either way, historic day for crypto.”

Ulbricht, who was previously serving multiple life sentences after being convicted of drug trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering in 2015, was pictured leaving prison on Tuesday night.

U.S. President Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social to confirm Ulbricht’s release and said, “The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of the government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”