When the federal government shut down the infamous “dark web” marketplace known as Silk Road back in 2013, authorities also arrested the website’s creator, Ross Ulbricht – not for committing any actual crime, but simply for building the platform upon which “illegal” activity was reportedly taking place. But what many people don’t realize is that, in the process of putting an end to Silk Road, the Feds also seized 174,000 Bitcoins from Ulbricht, which today are worth more than $1.7 billion.

At the time, 174,000 Bitcoins was only worth $34.5 million. But because of its meteoric rise in recent years – and especially over the past several months – the value of the Bitcoin that Big Brother seized is unprecedented. What happened to all of these Bitcoins is anyone’s guess, but either way, they are gone from Ulbricht’s possession as he sits in a prison cell serving his completely unwarranted life sentence.

If you’ve been following Natural News for any considerable period of time, chances are you’re well aware that the United States government’s War on Drugs is a multi-billion dollar racket that allows law enforcement to not only steal people’s wealth and assets, but also to keep the public addicted to patented pharmaceutical medications. In this case, it also allowed for government intrusion into the world of Bitcoin, which represents a major paradigm shift away from centralized currencies like Federal Reserve Notes.

“Even though Ulbricht did nothing but create a website – just like the famous billionaires Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos – he was treated like El Chapo in court because his invention worked against the system, instead of for it,” writes John Vibes for The Free Thought Project about this travesty and abuse of power.

‘Dark web’ platforms for illegal drug trade actually make the world a safer place

The fact of the matter is that the War on Drugs doesn’t in any way accomplish what it claims to accomplish. Prohibition, in general, has made our streets more dangerous and directly contributed to massive increases in violent crime in practically every place where it’s being enforced with vigor. On the other hand, legalization efforts have had the opposite effect, allowing safer access to substances that would otherwise have to be obtained through riskier means.

Believe it or not, for as “evil” as the mainstream media and government claimed it to be, Silk Road was actually beneficial to society at large. That’s because everyone who bought and sold “illegal” substances through the system did so in a protected environment that didn’t involve “back alley” deals or other questionable means of obtaining or distributing the goods in question.

Prohibition at its heart encourages shady activity that puts people’s lives at risk. It’s also one of the reasons that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have become popular in the first place, functioning as a decentralized means of buying and selling with anonymity, and without government intrusion.

“One important point that was heavily overlooked by the media during the Ulbricht trial was the fact that the Silk Road actually made the world a safer place by undermining prohibition,” adds Vibes about the dark reality of prohibition.

“Even though drugs are illegal, large numbers of people still use them on a regular basis and these people are often put into dangerous situations because of these prohibitions … The Silk Road allowed people to purchase drugs from the comfort of their living room to avoid the risk of getting mugged in a dark alleyway. It also allowed them to read reviews of the products that their potential dealer was selling, saving them from tainted drugs and dirty batches that could put their lives at risk.”

Sources for this article include:

TheFreeThoughtProject.com

NaturalNews.com