The Forgotten Mastermind of the Silk Road Marketplace

[@bladestormX]

The irony of someone called "Variety" Jones selling exactly one thing

[@veryhuman7472]

i assume it refers to the seed variety rather than generalised variety. but yeah it does strike.

[@veryhuman7472]

@@acsearia that's not ironic. The actual silk road is a historical niche. The modern, digital silk road is something many living people interacted with quite recently.

[@veryhuman7472]

@@acsearia why would the video be taken down? what tf is your problem?

[@Thoofdecay]

Getting caught as a drug kingpin in America and passing on a 10 year plea deal. Yikes

[@Sweet-Rat-Milk]

*Getting caught as a drug kingpin in America, and somehow gets offered a 10 year plea deal? Wyte-privilege strikes again.

[@LordDoucheBags]

@@Sweet-Rat-Milk N

[@bennygerow]

​​@@Sweet-Rat-Milkthat's not even true though lol. He had a clean record, which is the big difference between him and career criminals who often have violent offenses as well as narcotics convictions. It's called data. Check it out sometime.

[@dark2k10]

@@Sweet-Rat-Milkbros just openly racist

[@jacobramirez4894]

@@Sweet-Rat-Milkyea

[@dubioushumor9243]

What kind of supposed criminal mastermind keeps a journal? “Dear diary, I met a boy today. I can’t stop thinking about him. His name is Variety Jones”

[@Neero_90]

every time i watch a video related to this story and the website i start questioning why no one made a movie about this, also yet a gain kira being super talented in telling the story! Even with my love for MMO's this is way more interesting

[@TheBlakus420]

Yea, fr! Would make for a great movie with the right team!

[@wraithfvcker]

There are literally 2 movies about the silk road...

[@TheBlakus420]

@@wraithfvcker I had no idea. What are they? And are they any good?

[@mitchryan85]

This whole thing needs to be adapted into a TV crime drama

[@Shibbykun]

It was, I swore I saw it but I dont remember where.

[@jackmcdrake8686]

With Robert Pattinson :D

[@vanesslifeygo]

These KiraTV videos are enough :D

[@grimble67]

@@jackmcdrake8686I came here to say this! And Vinnie Jones as VJ.

[@bhaalpriestess]

I love your silk road videos, theyre so interesting and explained very well

[@nappiral]

Crazy that DPR could be getting out now if he had only taken the 10-year plea deal..

[@elitedavidhorne8494]

Wow. Can't believe he turned down that deal.

[@Aerodeth]

Provided that some of his 'associates' he'd be forced to rat out wouldnt have had him killed before finishing the sentence....

[@swortham]

He probably didn’t want to give up some money he has dash somewhere genius

[@resemblesyou]

"american kingpin" by nick bilton is a great book that chronicles this entire story and shines a light on all players!!! i highly recommend it. (the audiobook is also great, in case you're short on time.)

[@KiraTV1]

Indeed, great book read it multiple times over the years when I started working on these videos.

[@resemblesyou]

@@KiraTV1 my man 👌🏼

[@higinbingin1524]

Half of Kira’s videos are based on that book, and Adam Greenberg’s books lmao

[@DNFHistory]

But they were both Canadian lol

[@KiraTV1]

Half my videos? I've made thousands, and 3 are about the silk road, all of which were multi sources from across the entire history and using no single source or "base". Also no clue who adam greenberg is.

[@stee8345]

Yessss! All your Silk Road videos are top notch ! 😊

[@MsMcBean]

Whenever kira uploads a new doc I get a surge of excitement, I used to save these videos as a reward for myself after finishing something I would rather procrastinate... but youtube demonetization policies means now i click & watch immediately in case the video is taken down. My productivity suffers 😢

[@raafmaat]

u can download youtube videos.... if quality isnt a big issue there are many sites that let u download vids in a bit lower quality, or you can use command line programs to even download in original quality

[@fiansobg]

CEO of making excuses

[@BobParagudous]

just download it lil bro

[@ultimaIXultima]

I do the same thing now.

[@crypticscrutiny1153]

I just do whatever I want, WHENEVER I want. I'm miserable!

[@Allen.Christian]

Navy Intelligence absolutely knew what onion routing would be used for, they just didn't care. They needed it to be a public resource, because if you're the only one viewing a website anonymously, you're not anonymous.

[@robertbeisert3315]

Yep, that all fits

[@Ty-qf7bv]

They definitely knew! They arrest these people because these people do it and don’t have to pay taxes.

[@DoctorDex]

Variety Jones has always been such an intriguing character in this whole story

[@EddyOfTheMaelstrom]

Variety Jones is a fed. For sure.

[@Alster26]

I remember the first time I watched a documentary on The Silk Road and it must have clearly either been paid for by Ross's family or the filmmakers were Ross sympathizers because I remember coming out of that documentary thinking that maybe Ross was innocent. But everything I have watched since then has shown he was a million percent guilty.

[@TheRetroEngine]

love the presentation on these, Kira, great narration and piece too.

[@Nx2.1]

The Nabataeans deserve an honourable mention for their survivability tactics.

[@CharIie83]

the sad thing is the site brought a lot of people away from crime by letting them skip the middleman you'd otherwise have to contact

[@TheTERMlNAT0R]

Yep. Thus keeping local police off your ass. Making them lose funds lol that why Ross got the boom thrown at him. He was a major security breach of america itself. But Ross is still a legend

[@shreygirdhar9923]

@@TheTERMlNAT0R Legend? More like a coward shit.

[@youtubeuser206]

On the market forums you used to be able to get free samples of anything and everything from new sellers trying to boost their positive reviews, just pay shipping

[@DIABETOR]

In regards to that intro about Tor, it can only work as a fully anonymous network if anyone can use it. If you’re a spy and you know that everyone else on this network is also a spy, then it can’t fulfill its purpose. But if the vast majority of users are “some guy,” then it’s a lot harder to find and keep an eye on actual targets, which makes it much easier for agencies to covertly communicate across it.

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

Exactly: The TOR network is more useful for intelligence agencies (and other users) if more than intelligence operators run it. Anonymity requires more nodes since a needle trying to hide in a haystack wants a bigger haystack.

[@clvrswine]

*regarding, not in regards. Please learn how to use these words. People might read your comment and take you seriously if you can use basic English when providing information.

[@DIABETOR]

@@clvrswine I think the average person on the functioning end of your spectrum would will understand what I meant, irregardless of which words I used to say it.

[@Dommifax]

​@@DIABETORjust to be clear - I fully agree with your take, but man, the trolling in your reply made me choke from laughing

[@FlyWhistle]

So how did they catch me pirating movies and music about 12 years ago? I was blacklisted by internet providers and threatened with law enforcement involvement

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

When "Libertarian" really means "outlaw". And when "untraceable Bitcoin" really meant "oh so very traceable on the ledger"

[@5h4d0w5l1f3]

What about em?

[@lorddrayvon1426]

Funny story, how’d you think they distracted Ulbrecht? They planted two FBI Agents behind where he was sitting, one man and one woman, and had them argue and yell at each other as if they were a dysfunctional couple. The internet cafe staff were in on the ploy so they didn’t care. When Ulbrecht turned, another Agent a table over yoinked his laptop whe upon the female Agent threw him in cuffs.

[@SomeplaceScary]

That sounds like a comedy bit, oh my God.

[@lorddrayvon1426]

@@SomeplaceScary not really surprising. Officials, lawyers and judges just like straight up screwing with criminals. You’d expect them to be stuffy and boring but they like to fuck with people and, in the case of judges in criminal matters specifically, just kinda take the piss or even subtly insult the clients. In one case in England for example, the trial of William McFall and Stephen Unwin for the horrific torture and murder of Quine Ngoc Nguyen, the judge straight up called McFall “a calculating, manipulative, and ruthless killer” and “an extremely violent man capable of monstrous behaviour.” It’s hilarious. McFall and Unwin later got whole life tariffs which ensures that these two killers (who had been out on licence at the time of Quyen’s murder after previously killing two OAPs) will die in prison.

[@francois2449]

Damn, Kira managed once again to make a very compelling story. Had to stop what I was doing to look at it, instead of putting it in the background as I planned

[@XionEternum]

TOR is indeed anonymous, if the destination hub isn't compromised or bait. The CIA, FBI, and various other criminal investigation agencies do operate many of the TOR network hubs. Use at your own risk.

[@CelticGuardian7]

I'd say he was more of a first mate than a vice captain in this analogy. =P Great video!

[@TraTranc]

The big issue with this video is in its introduction, where it talks about TOR. TOR was made public and open-source specifically _because_ it needed to make the system suitable and safe for intelligence operators. If TOR remained accessible _only_ to the intelligence community, everybody monitoring Internet traffic, upon noticing Onion traffic, would just say _"Oh, there is another American spy."_

[@jukee67]

Exactly. The intelligence community runs the world while robbing, stealing, and dealing everything.

[@WTFisYoutubeDoinWitUsrNamesHUH]

could it be that they needed as many nodes as possible?

[@kingace6186]

Another great video. I like how this video lays out the bigger picture for the last video.

[@bobbypukes605]

Rejecting that plea deal? What on Earth was he thinking? Surely he would have known the alternative..

[@KarrierBag]

brilliantly explained, love your videos, they are spot on point, unlike many others on YT, thank you x

[@evil_incarnate1864]

Thanks for the amazing video! Very well researched and to the point.

[@nicholasgignac7065]

How does this only have 250k views?! This should have 25 million views

[@fishertheadore6095]

Damn, so many Twist and Turns. Suprised this hasn't been turned into a Movie.

[@Jamie-yh5eu]

Still crazy to me how long Ross Ulbricht got sentenced for. Especially when a ton of the actual dealers got short term sentences or a slap on the wrist.

[@kingace6186]

His fault for not taking the plea deal even though he knew his ass was grassed.

[@pumpkin1escobar]

Why would dealers get longer sentencing than the person setting up a whole market place wanting that shit? I would probably agree that his sentencing is long as fuck for what he did but this logic makes no sense lol.

[@KarrierBag]

murderers and peados get far less which is a real pity

[@deadprivacy]

It was plotting murders that did it. Hes in the right place.

[@PollokPoochesDogWalking]

​@@pumpkin1escobarI think the logic is that websites like Facebook and services like Snapchat etc don't have there owner sent to prison for their users using it to do illegal things such as sell drugs. So while his intent was obviously greater, the black and white of it is that his website provided networking of individuals but wasn't actually involved in the supply or receipt of drugs directly, just like Snapchat and Facebook hide behind that.

[@RickC--tp3fe]

Tor is absolutely not anonymous, all it takes is one person running one compromised node and all traffic through that node can/will be tracked.

[@aristotelboro4176]

Okay now you tell the most stupid thing!

[@RickC--tp3fe]

@@urlifes the nodes used to connect to Tor are run by people, it only takes one person running a node with malicious intent to compromise connections to Tor.

[@BitcoinEternal-ny3rd]

Not true. There are three layers of protection. Don't listen to this guy... lol

[@DavidLopez-dd1hx]

You don't know how it works

[@CakeStak]

No 3 separate nodes would have to be collaborating across the world AND happen to have been randomly assigned to the same user for the same session to track their traffic

[@felixtag5121]

Great Story - i love KiraTV vids…. Keep up the great work

[@3zzChineseSchizo]

holy, was just watching 3 other videos and then saw that u just uploaded

[@cyberneticghostofchristmas]

I literally just watched the Lex Fridman podcast, with the FBI agent who tracked him down. Perfect timing man!

[@NoChannelNews]

You calling it a vice captain made me giggle🤣🤣

[@EddyOfTheMaelstrom]

Nobody will ever be able to convince me that Variety Jones was not a fed.

[@DavidKen878]

If that was the case, then why would they lie about how they found Ross?

[@Nop3.1]

100% chance you believe the Illuminati exists and controls everything.

[@DREADL]

He left a diary and he got caught with his laptop unlocked... why on earth did he think he would ever serve less than 10 years lmao

[@FrederickGautier]

Kira making videos that are potentially safer to garner more consistent views

[@martharunstheworld]

It always amazes me that those breaking the law would have the audacity to keep a journal about it.

[@venuent_]

I mean especially not an online one on your main computer

[@XXConner]

You see a lot of people clamoring online about these guys being nonviolent offenders but having huge prison sentences. Were they not too dumb to know they were getting scammed, they would have actually gotten people killed. I have no sympathy.

[@TPCDAZ]

They plotted the murder of another human being. WHy do people skipp that part when talking about the sentencing

[@nothobbesmufc949]

doesn't suit their narrative to acknowledge their beloved "outlaw" was eagerly plotting murders and bragging about it. "Well they weren't real so it doesn't count!" Silk Road admins didn't know it wasn't real. DPR was bragging about killing someone to another hitman. If it wasn't for the fact they were being scammed/talking to gov't agents, there'd be 6 corpses under DPR's belt. That's the scary part.

[@orangejjay]

I think Tor was made open source because it would help "legitimate users" (the US intel community and its allies) to better hide what they were doing. Tor has a certain look when it's used and if there was only a few hundred or even thousand people using it, it would be eaaier to snoop on and watch for. But introduce it to the world and suddenly you've got hundreds of thousands of users and endpoints to further obfuscate who is actually using it and what they're doing. The blowback of shady services popping up was no surprise either. Those who released it suspected it would lead to shady things simply because it was already used for shady purposes before it went public. Sites like Silk Road are not tbe problem. It's the American War on Drugs and this need for conservatives and other elites to regulate what people do in their bedrooms that's the problem. Regulation is good. Prohibition is not. ❤❤

[@Kirt44]

It is the strategi that they would never be hidden if everybody knew that fbi nsa and governments using tor so you are correct

[@DavidAndrews-eb7gm]

Just a clarification. Not trying to defend DPR but Silk Road a strict policy of not selling any of the really hideous things available on the dark web. No weapons, no credit card information, no personal information and no sexual exploitation material.

[@dougray30]

I've been going through Kira withdrawal!

[@Forevermade32]

Babe wake up Kiratv just dropped another masterpiece

[@2dumd2live]

Excellent documentary vid, as always

[@SukieOOO]

These silk road stories are so wild

[@TheFakeyCakeMaker]

I've seen the carl green story but I've got to go watch it again now. Kira us such a good storyteller.

[@melly218]

i love you're videos. high quality good research and always interessting.

[@clvrswine]

*your. You're means you are. Does I like you are videos make sense to you? *Interesting, not interessting. You can't spell, but you can comment about what you claim is "high quality research"? You need to research basic grammar and spelling. Adopt some standards and have some pride.

[@stephencunniffe823]

I dont get why he would escalate it that far. Its not like he didn't have money.

[@FlameFlickers]

Ross is gonna be haunted every waking hour of the rest of his life by his stupid decision not to accept the 10 year plea deal. That was a very sweet plea deal under the circumstances.

[@darth3261]

He would be free now, being an internet celebrity and making money out of his legend. Oh well

[@LegalizeTheNuclearBomb]

The more I hear about this dude, the more I'm beginning to realize he was just a gullible idiot and not some coding genius. All he did was setup a marketplace.

[@Oroberus]

If your OpSec isn't ALWAYS, EVERYWHERE, EVERYTHING, you got no OpSec and will get caught

[@ChrisHaefner]

You have a great channel my friend

[@mga59xbd38]

Your Legacy lives on to this day.

[@trebodom8224]

You can't make this shit up. Very fascinating.

[@hunterq4202]

I bet he spends every day thinking about not taking that plea deal.

[@khkartc]

The feds totally had the goods on him, so his lawyer _must_ have laid it out to him as a choice between a certain 10-year sentence and a probable 15- or 20-year sentence. To a guy in his 20s, ten years _seems_ like a lifetime-only in retrospect is it obvious that it isn’t.

[@brookelee139]

There’s a few signs around DC calling for Ross to be freed lol

[@WhitfieldProductionsTV]

exit nodes on the other hand are typically all honey pots.

[@robertcola2573]

I remember when Freedom hosting got taken down and with it Silk Road, middle of a gov shutdown the DHS still working I remember browsing the site back in the day after I heard about it, lot more then just drugs on it. interesting to see the story behind.

[@cld5725]

Cheers for another great video

[@Darkwolfe73]

You really like to use shots from this Princess bride scene in your vids Kira! Although, to be fair I think the other vid(s) this scene appears in are animated.

[@redsands1001]

I remember reading news articles about his downfall was where I first even heard about the dark web

[@isbestlizard]

Shouldn't have tried to have someone killed. If I was a juror on a trial where all he did was set up a marketplace I be jury nullifying him into being a free man

[@isbestlizard]

Wooo that VJ guy gives very chilling psychopath vibes like he should be CEO of some legit tech company fucking over everyone else with a mind like that

[@Fordragon]

True, I'd do the same in that instance.

[@tenebraequeene]

it's weird. whenever i think of silkroad. i remember this one mmo i never played lol. but yeah. this is freaking wild!

[@silverchairx]

Nob would never work as a username for us Brits

[@Kepesk]

Another Silk Road video from Kira? I'm down.

[@FamousUps]

Such a deep crazy story...

[@thenodfather]

I heard the story of Ross Ulbricht, but nothing was said about him hiring someone to kill someone else 😮

[@usosaito.namahage]

Dude wrote a diary of all his illegal activities and then went surprised Pikachu face when his own diary was used against him. xD

[@alexbrown7176]

Great vid.

[@tadeuvi]

Ross is the real life light iagami.

[@Mav8887.]

Insane back then that 1 million in bitcoin he was scammed for is worth more like 70 million today

[@jackcarroll2071]

First here & first to comment 🎉❤ Appreciate your work, I just began my journey to become a well adversed

[@regalgiant1597]

Bye kira, loved you

[@beskamir5977]

Damn Ross had insanely awful opsec. Doomed himself trying to set sail in a leaky ship.

[@SyntaxWyntax]

Video Essay channels love making vids on the guy from silk road eh 😂

[@Adam_P_Wood]

Forgotten huh it’s everywhere

[@naidzs4319]

Poor quality drugz is why he is in jail.

[@notjaisavage740]

Wow DPR really should have taken the plea deal

[@HeidiCussons]

Should be a film!

[@khkartc]

Lesson 1 seems to be that if you’re less than expert at coding (not to mention bad at hiding your online trail), you might think twice about going live with your illegal Dark Web marketplace.

[@NorthernConnectFilm]

Definitely not forgotten, what world do you actually live in?

[@KiraTV1]

The real one where everyone talks about Ross but never mentions variety.

[@bobincognito]

Mastermind? What kinda glorification is that, for a guy who got caught in a starbucks😂

[@RalphieMuskinyaar]

That Ross guy was so gullible

[@jukee67]

He launched the site after someone put the idea into his head. Now who was it? Think of it like a beta test. Even WW2 had a stooge who had people pulling his strings from the beginning. When it comes to America and the war on drugs...it's never ending on purpose. The intelligence community is not gonna get investigated or investigate themselves. Remember illegal drugs are what drives the US Economy and the dollar at this point. It also has helped destroy this country on many fronts. And intelligence is on the prison business. It's a win-win for those that walk in the shadows with no oversight and an unlimited budget. We the people are fools...we fund all of it...all the way to the collapse that fast approaches.

[@DesertRat88]

@@jukee67 Crypto itself was likely created by the NSA, probably to acclimate people to digital currencies for whats to come. The whole block-chain theory was outlined in a 1996 white paper.

[@sketchpen777]

I remember Barely Sociable covering this

[@therealfatcat230]

He was a first time non violent offender who was punished to severely and should be acquitted

[@Nop3.1]

Acquitted? He ran a massive market for illegal goods and ordered hits on people. First offense or not he’s exactly where he needs to be.

[@kevingoeminne5922]

Are you sure this is true because seeds are legal in Europe mostly for 30 years now...

[@jukee67]

That is the whole point. It should have been a red flag.

[@MethodicalAnarchy]

DPR was offered 10 years and refused? What a fool, especialy if he has cash stashed away

[@fallennarcotic6981]

Kind like Saul with Heisenberg. If not for the former the latter would have ended up dead or in jail a long time ago

[@RobertHunt-vd8vy]

U still will not shold

[@justianfox64]

Dread pirate roberts doesn’t deserve to be in jail.

[@BigDrewski1000]

Odd thing is with the way marijuana laws are going, someone selling just seeds like Variety Jones did back then could honestly make a legal, legit business out of it. At least here in the U.S. anyways.

[@IGoByAlllexia]

I am so damn happy you made another silk road video

[@kronalord3764]

idk man the narcotics part may not have always been true but libertarianism and savages does line up

[@Firetiger93]

Life in prison for wanting someone who is stealing from you and selling drugs sounds excessive. Both those things sound perfectly reasonable to me

[@peterj5106]

In Maritime terms he would be First Mate instead of Vice Captain. Not being funny m8.... just saying. Love your channel bro. 👍

[@JK-gm6kk]

Why didn't he take the fuckin deal?! I never knew he could have done 10 years Edit: there was never a deal, as I'm sure someone has pointed out by now. Unfortunate it made the vid as factual In a 2020 Vanity Fair article Nick Bilton claimed that Ulbricht had rejected a plea deal that would have potentially given Ulbricht a decade-long sentence. Bilton writes "According to more than a dozen investigators and attorneys involved in the case who I spoke to for the book, Ulbricht’s sentence could have been a lot less severe..."[63] Assistant US Attorney Timothy Howard, who was co-responsible for prosecuting the case, testified that "...no such plea offer was ever extended to Ross William Ulbricht, or conveyed to his then-counsel..." before Ulbricht's indictment. Howard stated that a plea deal with a mandatory minimum of 10 years was, "...discussed at the final pretrial conference on December 17, 2014...", but that the maximum sentence of life imprisonment was strongly recommended based on the sentencing guideline.[64]

[@christianlauridsen4637]

You are very wrong in one aspect, Ulbricht will never be forgotten.

[@jernaugurgeh451]

5:35 Oh the irony… hackers stealing from drug dealers are the ultimate ‘libertarian’ freemarketeers. We have governments who regulate stuff for a reason… The world might seem shit as it is, but it would be a whole lot worse if libertarians got their way.

[@michaelhayward7790]

I doubt he'll ever be forgotten lol

[@petekrumb4936]

still think about how this silly boy couldve been out by now. SMH