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Ulbricht is a free man now, and he may well also be a rich man soon. The crypto world has raised more than 2.7 BTC (around $287,000) in donations, seeded with an initial deposit of $111,111 from the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange. Besides that, a director at Coinbase identified around 430 BTC likely belonging to Ulbricht.13 “Back then these were probably dust wallets,” said the Coinbase executive, referring to wallets containing very small amounts of bitcoin that get trapped in wallets because they fall below amounts required to pay transaction fees. However, as the bitcoin price increased dramatically over the years, those 430 BTC — which would have combined to a few hundred dollars around the time Ulbricht created the Silk Road — are now priced at around $47 million. However, whether Ulbricht still has the keys to access the wallets remains to be seen.13 Some have wondered if Ulbricht might regain access to the billions of dollars in bitcoin he forfeited during his case, now that he’s been pardoned. This seems unlikely, as the pardon does not erase the underlying conviction, and does not overturn civil forfeitures.14