Until, of course, in 2013 the Silk Road was shut down by FBI agents and Mr Ulbricht, then 29 years old, was arrested in the science-fiction section of a San Francisco public library. In 2015, after a four-week trial,

Ulbricht’s conviction has been wiped out, but his 144,000 Bitcoins are long gone.

Ross Ulbricht, the dark-web marketplace founder pardoned by United States President Donald Trump, has spoken about his release from prison for the first time.