Most Influential: Ross Ulbricht

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, was pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in January after serving 12 years of a sentence that included life plus 40 years for narcotics trafficking, conspiracy, and hacking. Trump had pledged the pardon in May 2024 at the Libertarian National Convention and explicitly linked it to the support he received from the Libertarian Party. Following Ulbricht's pardon, Trump issued several other pardons to major figures in the crypto industry, including former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes and his co-founders, as well as Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, all of whom had pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations. These pardons allow some executives to re-enter the U.S. as company offers. Trump's broader pardon spree also included non-crypto figures, such as former Honduras president Juan Orlando Hernández and individuals convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

(Source：CoinDesk)