Who Is Ross Ulbricht?

Ross Ulbricht is just a regular guy like you and me. Yet because of a youthful mistake, he is in jail. This young man born in 1984 operated under the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts while creating and managing the infamous dark web marketplace Silk Road. 

Ross is strongly linked to bitcoin. He used it to process Silk Road payments. However, he was arrested in 2013. Two years after his arrest, a Manhattan federal jury found him guilty on seven counts, alleging that he conspired to launder money and hack computers. They also claimed he was the head of a criminal enterprise that trafficked narcotics over the Internet. 

In this way, Ross Ulbricht looks like the bad guy in the story. But the story is much more nuanced than we think.

Ross never sold illegal drugs or drug-related goods. Ross was jailed for creating a site where other people sold drugs. And the jury didn't care about that little detail. Nor did it matter that it was his first offense. Ross Ulbricht was wrongly sentenced to life behind bars. 

What Is The Genesis Collection NFT?

Although Ross undoubtedly harbors some fears of growing old and dying in prison, he doesn't intend to let decades go by without doing anything. And in pursuit of that mission, he finds the answer in his art. 

After all that and nine years in prison without parole, Ross Ulbricht decided to do something different. That's how the Ross Ulbricht Genesis Collection NFTs was born.

It features some writings and ten artworks by the hand of Ross Ulbricht himself. They tell Ross's story: from his early childhood to his teen years to how prison has been.

It also includes original animation by Levitate. It also features a voiceover by Ross, inspired by his time in prison.

The auction started on December 2nd at Art Basel Miami. They are doing the auction through the SuperRare platform. This collection is going to be the only one to include some of Ross's personal work. 

This NFT collection started accepting bids at $1. By the time of this writing, the highest bid was at 685.98 ETH (around $2,89M). The auction will close on the sixth day — on December 8th.