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Collected Quotations Of The Dread Pirate Roberts, Founder Of Underground Drug Site Silk Road And Radical Libertarian
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The persona behind the drugs: On Silk Road's forums, the black market's libertarian founder tags his post with his character's signature motto: "As you wish..."

In public, the pseudonymous Internet drug czar known as the Dread Pirate Roberts doesn’t say much. Roberts’ website, the illegal, anonymous drug-selling black market known as the Silk Road, has survived only because of its creator’s discretion. On the rare occasions when DPR speaks to the press, he (or she) does so in short messages, and–at least in my case–only through the anonymizing service Tor, the same cryptographic tool used to prevent the Feds from tracking down the Silk Road’s servers or its users. Thanks to that discretion, the Silk Road’s Bitcoin-driven narcotics trade has thrived for more than two years without being shut down by law enforcement, and its founder hasn’t been identified.

But within the community that the Dread Pirate Roberts has created, Silk Road’s founder is hardly so shy. On the Tor-hidden online forums associated with Silk Road, Roberts posts long manifestos, philosophical and political musings, love letters to Silk Road’s users, and even hosts the Dread Pirate Roberts Book Club, a reading and discussion group devoted to “agorism, counter-economics, anarcho-capitalism, Austrian economics, political philosophy, freedom issues and related topics.”

The character that emerges from those writings is no run-of-the-mill cybercriminal. (Though Silk Road site was moving $22 million worth of illicit pharmaceuticals a year at last check.) Roberts instead comes across as a principled libertarian and cypherpunk in the same vein as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

Below, I’ve assembled DPR’s writings from Silk Road’s forum on every topic from the War on Drugs to Ron Paul to his own motives and ideology. Since most readers don’t use Tor, I’ve copied some entire long passages here. But for those who do use Tor, I’ve added links at the end of each subject back to Silk Road’s Tor-hidden community forum, where you can read all of Roberts’ words in context.


Founder Of Drug Site Silk Road Says Bitcoin Booms And Busts Won't Kill His Black Market
Andy Greenberg
Forbes Staff

Black Market Drug Site 'Silk Road' Booming: $22 Million In Annual Sales
Andy Greenberg
Forbes Staff
On the Silk Road as a practical libertarian system:

“Silk Road was founded on libertarian principles and continues to be operated on them. It is a great idea and a great practical system…It is not a utopia. It is regulated by market forces, not a central power (even I am subject to market forces by my competition. No one is forced to be here). The same principles that have allowed Silk Road to flourish can and do work anywhere human beings come together. The only difference is that the State is unable to get its thieving murderous mitts on it.” [10/1/2012]

On the War on Drugs: (In response to criticisms from another user who said that Silk Road hasn’t affected the War on Drugs)

“Silk Road has already made an impact on the war on drugs. The effect of the war is to limit people’s access to controlled substances. Silk Road has expanded people’s access. The great thing about agorism is that it is a victory from a thousand battles. Every single transaction that takes place outside the nexus of state control is a victory for those individuals taking part in the transaction. So there are thousands of victories here each week and each one makes a difference, strengthens the agora, and weakens the state.” [9/23/2012]

On the potential for drug cartels to form on Silk Road:

“Cartels are nearly impossible to maintain without the use of violence, especially in an environment as competitive as Silk Road. There is also nothing morally wrong with them. If a cartel were to form, I would not attempt to break it up unless its members were breaking other rules. If you want an explanation for why cartels are nearly impossible to maintain in a free market environment, please read “Man, Economy and State” chapter 10, part 2, section D.” [3/21/2013]

On maintaining the trust of Silk Road’s users: (after a Silk Road outage raised concerns among users that the site’s administrators might have run off with the funds stored on the site)

“I know this whole market is based on the trust you put in me and I don’t take that lightly. It’s an honor to serve you and though you don’t know who I am, and have no recourse if I were to betray you, I hope that as time goes on I will have more opportunities to demonstrate that my intentions are genuine and no amount of money could buy my integrity.

Especially you old hats that have been around since the beginning, but this goes for everyone, you all are like family to me. Sure we have some crazy cousins floating around, but they just add character, right? Doesn’t matter though, I love you all. Of all the people in the world, you are the ones who are here, in the early stages of this revolution. You are the ones getting this thing off the ground and driving it forward. It is a privilege to have you by my side. Thank you for your trust, faith, camaraderie and love.” [11/17/2012]

On the “heroes” who sell drugs on Silk Road:

“There are heroes among us here at Silk Road. Every day they risk their lives, fortunes, and precious liberty for us. They are on the front lines making tough decisions and working their asses off to make this market what it is. Of course I am talking about our vendors. I won’t try to acknowledge them individually because we are blessed with so many extraordinary people who have stepped up to the task and taken it upon themselves to find a way to stock the shelves at Silk Road. They labor tirelessly to balance the heavy responsibilities they’ve taken on. From customer support, to supply chain and inventory management, to promotion, to quality control, to risk management and mitigation, to IT, to Bitcoin finance, to order fulfillment, and on and on, these guys and gals are professionals that are rising to the top of their game.”[2/27/2012]

On financial motivations, and whether DPR founded Silk Road “for the money,” as another user claims:

“Money is one motivating factor for me. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t impose a commission on trades, or require vendors to use the Silk Road payment processor. Money motivates me for two reasons. For one, I have basic human needs that money allows me to meet so that I may devote my time to our cause. I also enjoy a few first-world pleasures that I feel I have earned, but nothing extravagant. In fact, compared to most I know, I still live quite frugally. I buy better food at the grocery store now, and got some new clothes, and am more generous with my friends and loved ones, but I’ve always been a cheap a**, and still kinda am out of habit. Besides that, I don’t want the attention that buying big toys brings for security reasons.

More importantly, money is powerful, and it’s going to take power to affect the kinds of changes I want to see. Money allows us to expand our infrastructure and manpower to accommodate the growing demands of our market and to pursue paths that will compliment and strengthen what’s already been created here.

All that being said, my primary motivation is not personal wealth, but making a difference. As corny as it sounds, I just want to look back on my life and know that I did something worthwhile that helped people. It’s fulfilling to me. If you don’t know this joy, you may hear my words as insincere and as a way to manipulate, but I know they are true and resonate with some of you. There is nothing wrong with living your life to maximize your own pleasure, so long as you aren’t hurting anyone in the process, but you will miss out on higher levels of happiness if your focus is always on yourself. It’s paradoxical, but the less you focus on your own happiness and focus on others’, the happier you’ll be. Try it out, you can always go back to being selfish. ” [9/23/2012]

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On Silk Road’s sustainability and complaints about the site’s commission on sales:

“Silk Road is an ENTERPRISE that is just getting started. It could literally change the world as we know it. It is bigger than any one of us, and it is going to take the dedication and will of MANY talented people, a lot of luck, and RESOURCES to get from here to there. Do you want to see this thing go all the way and take the absolute piss out of the power mongers of this world? Do you want to give it every chance it needs to succeed? Why aren’t you telling me to raise the commission even further then? I don’t hear anyone refusing the commission break on high priced goods. I don’t hear anyone saying “don’t do that, you need it, you keep this whole thing going, we’re happy to do our part.”

As a community, if we are going to survive, we need to adopt a LONG TERM vision. Getting the most out of this thing before it gets taken down is NOT going to bring us success. In that world, Silk Road will be a shooting star that burns out quickly and dies as little more than a dream, swallowed by the nightmare reality of an ever-expanding, all-powerful global oligarchy. Planning ahead and doing everything we can NOW to prepare for the war to come is the only way we are going to have a shot at this. We are still mostly ignored by our true enemies, but this incubation WILL NOT last forever.

I don’t like writing this kind of stuff publicly because it taunts our enemies and might spur them into action, but I risk it because the context for what we are doing is too often lost in the day to day stuff that happens here and it needs to be put in from time to time. Silk Road NEEDS our support. It needs everything we have. The return on what we put into it will be immeasurable if we can get through the months and years ahead and gain a real foothold on the global stage. HELP ME GET US THERE!!! Do it for me, do it for yourself, do it for your families and friends, and do it for mankind.” [1/11/2012]

On whether the government could ban Tor or Bitcoin, the tools Silk Road uses to provide anonymity:


Founder Of Drug Site Silk Road Says Bitcoin Booms And Busts Won't Kill His Black Market
Andy Greenberg
Forbes Staff

Black Market Drug Site 'Silk Road' Booming: $22 Million In Annual Sales
Andy Greenberg
Forbes Staff
“The state may try to ban our tools, but if we never use them for fear of them being banned, then we have already lost, no?  Personally, I don’t think they can be effectively banned at this point.  Iran and China, for example, are actively trying and failing.” [9/23/2012]

On the decision to create the Armory, a Silk-Road-like site for selling weapons, in February of 2012:

“We at Silk Road have no moral objection to the sale of small-arm weaponry. We believe that an individual’s ability to defend themselves is a cornerstone of a civil society. Without this, those with weapons with eventually walk all over defenseless individuals. It could be criminals who prey on others, knowing they are helpless. It could be police brutalizing people with no fear of immediate reprisal. And as was seen too many times in the last century, it could be an organized government body committing genocide on an entire unarmed populace. Without the ability to defend them, the rest of your human rights will be eroded and stripped away as well.

That being said, there is no reason we have to force everyone into a one-size-fits-all market where one group has to compromise their beliefs for the benefit of another. That’s the kind of narrow thinking currently used by governments around the world. It’s why we are in this mess in the first place. The majority in many countries feel that drugs and guns should be illegal or heavily regulated, so the minority suffers.

Here at Silk Road, we recognize the smallest minority of all, YOU! Every person is unique, and their human rights are more important than any lofty goal, any mission, or any program. An individual’s rights ARE the goal, ARE the mission, ARE the program. If the majority wants to ban the sale of guns on Silk Road, there is no way we are going to turn our backs on the minority who needs weaponry for self defense.” [2/26/2012]

On closing “the Armory” six months later:

“As most of you have figured out, we are closing the Armory. Your first question is probably “why?” Well, it just wasn’t getting used enough. Spinning it off originally was done somewhat abruptly and while we supported it, it was a kind of “sink or swim” experiment. The volume hasn’t even been enough to cover server costs and is actually waning at this point. I had high hopes for it, but if we are going to serve an anonymous weapons market, I think it will require more careful thought and planning.”

On DPR’s excitement at Silk Road’s success:

“You’ll have to wait for my memoirs for the juicy details, lol. I’ve got some stories though, I’ll tell ya. One weird thing that goes through my head when Silk Road goes through a growth spurt, like after the first Gawker article is that sound effect from Inception, or the intense music from the new Tron movie. It gives me the sensation of ‘holy sh*t, this is EPIC!’” [8/2/2012]

On the users’ power to control Silk Road:

“The way I see it, we are all players in something that has grown way beyond any one of us. Granted I play a unique role, but part of that role is continually earning the trust of the community to make the right choices going forward, and to serve each of you as best I can. Silk Road was built to serve you, your needs and desires are the wind that fills its sails. Without you, we are dead in the water. So sure, it’s my job to steer and chart the course, and I am ultimately responsible for the outcome of this experiment, but never forget where the real power lies. It’s where it always has been, in your hands.” [7/31/2012]

On starting the Dread Pirate Roberts Book Club, an online book club devoted to Austrian economics and libertarianism:

“I started this club because I think the pursuit of truth is one of the most noble human endeavors. Debating these issues is critical for us to construct a world-view that is grounded in reason and can guide us forward. Assuming great success for Silk Road, how easily could it become another blood thirsty cartel seeking profit at all costs? We must maintain our integrity and be true to our principles, the opportunity to make a lasting difference is too great not to.” [10/3/2012]

On the Federal Reserve:

“The Federal Reserve system relies on the force of government to maintain its monopoly power on the issuance of money. This is how all central banks maintain their control. Without the state’s involvement, people would be free to use whatever currency they like. Historically this was gold. If the founders of the fed tried to do what they did w/o the Federal Reserve Act legislation, and later the Brenton Woods agreement, they would have failed miserably. No one would have bought into their system.