- TruthLabs claims that the Ethereum ICO was funded by Bitcoin seized from Silk Highway.
- The allegations recommend that Vitalik Buterin knew about this financing in early 2014.
- Criticism arose relating to Buterin's lack of help for Ross Ulbricht's liberation motion.
TruthLabs, an investigative blockchain analyst, has accused Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin of benefiting from Bitcoin seized from Ross Ulbricht's Silk Highway pockets throughout Ethereum's preliminary coin providing (ICO). The allegations emerged following a web-based change between Buterin and Ulbricht on January 19, 2025.
Ulbricht, who’s serving a life sentence for exploiting the Silk Highway market, spoke to X to make clear his non-involvement in meme items bearing his identify. Vitalik responded with a message of help, calling Ulbricht's life imprisonment “absurd” and expressing hope for his freedom.
TruthLabs Claims
Within the early hours of as we speak, TruthLabs revealed a sequence of claims alleging that Bitcoin from Ulbricht's seized pockets was used to fund the Ethereum ICO and the Ethereum Basis. They mentioned the autumn of Silk Highway and the confiscation of its belongings supplied the monetary foundation for Ethereum's success.
In response to TruthLabs, Buterin knew as early as January 2014 that the Ethereum ICO can be funded by Bitcoin linked to Silk Highway belongings and the collapse of the Mt. Gox change. The submit criticized Buterin for not main efforts to help Ulbricht's freedom, though Ethereum would have benefited from his imprisonment.
“Vitalik, your ICO, and your Basis wallets have been funded utilizing Bitcoin from the Silk Highway pockets seized by Ross Ulbricht,” TruthLabs wrote.
They additional condemned Buterin for permitting grassroots actions like Free Ross DAO to depend on public donations whereas offering solely minimal public help himself.
Wider context and response
Ross Ulbricht's life sentence has lengthy been a controversial difficulty, together with his supporters arguing for leniency and criticizing the severity of his sentence. Free Ross DAO, a decentralized fundraising initiative, has raised vital funds to help Ulbricht's authorized efforts.
Neither Buterin nor the Ethereum Basis have responded to the allegations as of this writing. Nevertheless, these claims have reignited debates in regards to the origins of Ethereum's funding and the moral duties of its leaders.
In the meantime, throughout US President-elect Donald Trump's marketing campaign, he pledged to the crypto group to free the creator of the Silk Highway, Ross Ulbricht, if he was re-elected. Notably, with Trump taking workplace as we speak, it stays to be seen whether or not he’ll preserve his promise.
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