Happy Wednesday!

The community is in a celebratory mood after Ross Ulbricht’s release from prison. The question now is: does this make Trump’s crypto campaign pledges more likely to be fulfilled?

In today’s newsletter, Ulbricht receives a presidential pardon, Jupiter distributes over $600 million in its “Jupuary” airdrop, insights on Trump’s memecoin, and more.

Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin emphasizes, “no man left behind,” as the Ethereum community seeks Trump’s help to free developers.

Let’s dive in.

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Trump frees Ross Ulbricht

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order issuing a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road creator significantly linked to Bitcoin’s early history.

• “I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” Trump shared on Truth Social late Tuesday.
• This fulfills one of Trump’s key campaign pledges to the crypto industry, extending beyond his initial promise to commute Ulbricht’s sentence.
• “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” responded Ulbricht’s family through their Free Ross campaign account on X. “President Trump is a man of his word and he just saved Ross’s life. ROSS IS A FREE MAN!!!!!”
• The news sparked celebrations and relief across the Bitcoin community. Tether CEO and Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino remarked, “Finally Ross is free,” while Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo added, “January 21 will be forever known as Ross Ulbricht Freedom Day.”
• Ulbricht’s mother, Lyn, garnered widespread acclaim for her relentless decade-long campaign for his freedom. Bitcoin podcaster and long-standing advocate Peter McCormack praised, “Lyn Ulbricht is a warrior; I love this for Ross, her, and their family.”
• Arrested by the FBI in October 2013, Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years for operating Silk Road — a darknet market facilitating illegal product sales using Bitcoin.
• Advocates for Ulbricht’s release, spanning many years, viewed his sentence as disproportionately severe.
• Additionally, Coinbase director Conor Grogan reported that he identified approximately 430 BTC ($47 million) across various wallets belonging to Ulbricht, untouched for 13 years. He noted these funds were separate from the 174,000 BTC seized when Silk Road was shut down in 2013, although it seems unlikely Ulbricht still has the private keys.

Jupiter distributes over $600 million in ‘Jupuary’ airdrop

Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter is distributing 700 million JUP tokens worth around $616 million in its “Jupuary” airdrop to 2 million eligible user wallets on Wednesday.

• The airdrop comprises 425 million JUP for token swap users and 75 million JUP for stakers, rewarding on-chain activity and governance participation.
• An eligibility checker was released last week for users to verify their claim status.
• Jupiter plans annual airdrops every January through 2027, following last year’s distribution of nearly 1 billion JUP tokens.
• JUP has a circulating supply of 1.68 billion tokens from a maximum of 10 billion, with a market cap of $1.5 billion.

Trump memecoin’s ‘horrendous’ tokenomics

The Official Trump memecoin surged over 12% in the past 24 hours, trading back above $40 despite criticism from K33 analyst David Zimmerman regarding its “horrendous” tokenomics and a market cap drop from $15 billion to $8.4 billion.

• Approximately 80% of the TRUMP token’s supply is locked and will gradually unlock over 36 months. Nonetheless, Zimmerman noted there are no immediate supply concerns for the next three months.
• Currently, 20% of the Official Trump supply is circulating; half of this is allocated for liquidity, while the remainder was offered to the public.
• Kraken Global Head of Institutional Tim Ogilvie remarked that the period leading up to Inauguration Day during the memecoin’s launch marked “one of the most active times” in the crypto exchange’s history.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink envisions $700,000 bitcoin

During a televised interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink suggested that widespread adoption of a 2% to 5% bitcoin portfolio allocation could propel its price to as high as $700,000.

• Fink emphasized bitcoin’s potential as a hedge against fiat debasement and political instability, describing it as a transformative instrument, especially for those in countries with volatile currencies.
• BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) has become the market’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF since its launch a year ago, managing nearly $57 billion in assets.
• Bitcoin recently peaked at an all-time high of over $109,000, driven by increasing institutional interest and speculation regarding a potential strategic bitcoin reserve under President Trump.

US court rules against Tornado Cash sanctions; TORN surges

A U.S. District Court ruled against sanctions on the crypto mixer Tornado Cash on Tuesday, following an Appeals Court ruling from November.

• The Appeals Court noted that the Treasury Department had overstepped its authority, stating that immutable smart contracts are not “property” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
• The price of Tornado Cash’s native cryptocurrency, TORN, surged over 140% following this announcement, climbing from $9.50 to more than $23.

In the next 24 hours

• U.S. jobless claims data are due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.
• U.S. President Donald Trump is set to speak at 11 a.m.
• Davos 2025 continues in Switzerland.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.