“I wanted to empower people to be able to make choices in their lives, and to have privacy and anonymity… The question isn’t who is going to let me do this; it’s who is going to stop me.” – Ross Ulbricht.
These are the brash meanderings of Ross Ulbricht, the 26 year old creator of the Silk Road, a clandestine online marketplace for drug and weapons dealers, thriving on the dark web.
“American Kingpin”, written by Nick Bilton, technology writer for the New York Times, is about Ross Ulbricht, from Austin , Texas, Eagle Scout, bachelor’s degree in physics, master’s in materials science and engineering. Libertarian.
How did Ross get from Boy Scout to Dark Web Kingpin? Ross Ulbricht felt he had to destroy what he perceived to be the state’s irrational drug policies. His solution to these issues was to found Silk Road, an online black market, the first of its kind. To facilitate transactions, Ross used Bitcoin and web anonymity to allow people to discreetly buy and sell drugs. Based on this success, the entrepreneur gradually widened the scope of Silk Road, offering weapons, machine guns and eventually order hits on individuals, all for the betterment of society. At least that was the way he felt.
American Kingpin follows Ulbricht’s every move, from the loves in his life to the obstacles of running a start-up and struggling not to be a failure. It is a well written book with cliff hangers and suspense, while ever digging more deeply in to the complex, distorted character of Ross Ulbricht. I encourage you to read this mesmerizing book and going along for the ride. It is a True Crime masterpiece that make you realize that even Mafia Bosses would tip their cap to the young Ross Ulbricht. Available Amazon, Audible, everywhere.
