Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, recently received a generous donation of 8.07 bitcoins from a single wallet, totaling around $500,000. This donation allowed him to fly back to his home country of Australia, after spending five years in a UK prison and another five years living in the Ecuadorean embassy in London. In exchange for his freedom, Julian pleaded guilty to a single charge of espionage, with US authorities considering his time served in the UK prison.
His wife, Stella Assange, reached out for support on X platform, explaining that Julian was facing a hefty bill of $520,000 for a charter flight back home. Due to restrictions, he was not permitted to fly commercially to Australia, hence the need for a private jet. Stella set up a crowdfunding page to gather donations from supporters who wanted to help Julian return home. The page has raised close to $500,000 in fiat currency, but does not accept bitcoin contributions. To accommodate bitcoin donors, Stella created a separate page for bitcoin contributions, which brought in approximately $500,000 from a single transaction.
The relationship between WikiLeaks, Assange, and the Bitcoin network has been closely intertwined. Although WikiLeaks initially refrained from adopting bitcoin at the request of Satoshi Nakamoto, it later embraced the cryptocurrency after facing banking restrictions. By that time, the Bitcoin network had been in operation for over two years, experiencing increased usage and rising prices. Satoshi Nakamoto had already disappeared from the public eye by then.
Overall, the support and contributions from Julian Assange’s supporters have far exceeded expectations, with donations totaling around a million dollars. The use of bitcoin in this fundraising effort highlights the importance of cryptocurrency in supporting causes and individuals facing financial challenges. The ability to quickly raise funds through bitcoin transactions demonstrates the power of decentralized digital currencies in facilitating global financial transactions.