An auction of personal items belonging to Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who was pardoned by President Trump earlier this year, has yielded over $1.8 million in pledged BTC.
Among the items up for auction were a sleeping bag, backpack, and drum belonging to Ulbricht before his arrest, several items related to his incarceration like a lock, notebook, and clothing, and several works of art that Ulbricht painted in prison.
"I’ve left Arizona, the state where I was in prison. It’s time to travel. That means downsizing and turning the page," Ulbricht wrote in a message on the auction page . "I’ve decided to auction some personal items from before my arrest and during my time in prison. I don’t need the reminders and I’m sure some of you will love to have them."
One item, Ulbricht's final prison ID card which shows the early Bitcoin adoptee smiling widely, scored a winning bid of 11 BTC, currently worth over $1.1 million. “The guard tried to get me to stop smiling for the photo, but my joy comes from within, so I smiled that day, even though I was in prison :)," Ulbricht wrote on the item's page .
A painting entitled "Archway" by Ross Ulbricht an another prisoner known as "Omega"
A painting by Ulbricht and the prisoner who taught him oil painting, who is known as "Omega," scored a winning bid of 1.01 BTC. (Bidders have until Monday, June 2, to finalize their bids.)
"I loved the look of this archway in a photograph so much, I had to paint it," Ulbricht wrote. "It gave me the feeling that, if I could pass through it, something better would be on the other side."
The auction was conducted by Scarce City, a marketplace that sells Bitcoin-related goods for BTC.