WikiLeaks’ story is well-known among crypto investors. WikiLeaks was first published in 2006. It quickly became popular for publishing news leaks as well as classified information. The not-for profit organization was founded in 2006. One of its most interesting stories is the story of its founder. Julian AssangeYou are being sent to jail.
Even more interesting is the organization’s history with leading cryptocurrency bitcoin. The anonymous whistleblower platform had gotten on the government’s bad side over leaked documents that contained sensitive and classified military information. As payments processors Visa and Mastercard distanced from the organisation, it had suffered a lot as it relied heavily upon donations.
WikiLeaks Turns To Bitcoin
WikiLeaks was unable to accept traditional payment methods and had to find a new way. To avoid being tracked by the government, WikiLeaks turned to Bitcoin donations. Julian Assange had accused the U.S. government of endorsing what he referred to as “an illegal banking blockade” against WikiLeaks, forcing entities like AmEx, Visa, PayPal, etc, to stop supporting the organization.
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According to Assange, this had spurred the entity’s move into bitcoin. At this time, bitcoin was relatively young. In 2010, when the ‘blockade’ went into effect, BTC was only a year old and still trading relatively low. WikiLeaks began receiving donations in cryptocurrency that year. At first, it was bitcoin, but since then has expanded to other currencies.
Are Crypto Donations Working?
WikiLeaks is a good recipient of donations. When WikiLeaks began accepting donations, Bitcoin traded at just six cents per coin. Over the decade, Bitcoin has seen a steady increase in value to reach $69,000 by 2021.
Julian Assange, founder in 2017, tweeted saying that WikiLeaks’ investments had grown over 50,000% from when they began accepting the digital asset. Assange thanked the U.S. government to be the driving force behind this decision. Since Assange’s tweet, Bitcoin has grown by $50,000.
How far Bitcoin has come since the above referenced tweet | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
WikiLeaks currently accepts donations from six cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Cash, Monero Cash, Monero Cash, Litecoin and ZCash. This CryptoPotato reportThe history of each wallet was analyzed and WikiLeaks received donations totaling over $2.2 Million using cryptocurrency.
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Monero donations were not included as it was stated in the report that privacy coins could not be tracked. WikiLeaks received 1 CryptoKitties as well.
Julian Assange, who allegedly suffered a stroke from stress, is being held in Belmarsh Prison. The ‘transient ischemic stroke’ was After the High Court ruled in favor of a decision that prohibited the Australian national being extradited, this occurred.
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