Mark Rizzn Hopkins didn’t set out to be a cautionary tale. He was deep in the crypto world, doing what thousands of others were doing—buying and selling Bitcoin. But one transaction, involving a client unknowingly caught in a scam, put him under federal scrutiny. A missing FinCEN form, a technicality buried in new regulations, led to a raid, a legal battle, and ultimately, a year in federal prison.

For most people, that would be the end of the story. But Mark didn't give up.

Prison changes people. You spend your time thinking about the little things you took for granted—a shower at the right temperature, a mattress with more than a half-inch of padding, a handshake with a friend. When Mark got out, he didn’t waste time. He had already mapped his next steps. He knew his career in mainstream industries was over, so he leaned into the one space that would take him back—crypto.

But Mark’s story isn’t just about rebuilding. It’s about seeing the system for what it is. He went in believing he was one of the few who got caught up in something unfair. He came out realizing that the entire prison system is filled with people like him—people who made small mistakes, people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, people who got chewed up by a system that needed numbers more than it needed justice.

Instead of running from it, he stepped into advocacy. He worked with Free Ross DAO, a group pushing to free Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road. Through a mix of activism and unexpected connections—including a conversation with Donald Trump—Mark became one of the voices pushing for Ulbricht’s release. And it worked. Ross didn’t just get a commutation—he got a full pardon.

Mark’s story is about more than Bitcoin or prison or politics. It’s about resilience. About how, when the world decides to knock you down, you decide whether you get back up. He’s not asking for pity. He’s not trying to erase what happened. He’s just showing up every day and doing the work. Because that’s what you do.