Julian Assange returns to his home in Australia after generous donation in Bitcoin – DiarioBitcoin
By Hannah Perez
A single donation of 8 BTC covered the goal of Julian Assange’s fundraising campaign to cover the costs of his return flight to Australia. After more than a decade he is a free man.
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- Julian Assange returned to his native country, and Bitcoin partly covered the costs
- A single donation of 8 BTC practically covered the fundraising goal
- WikiLeaks founder reaches plea deal with US government
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has returned home a free man after a years-long legal battle over spying accusations, thanks in large part to a generous donation in Bitcoin (BTC).
Assange landed at the airport in Australia’s capital on Wednesday after pleading guilty as part of a deal with the US government that ended a 14-year legal drama over the disclosure of US military secrets.
A charter flight whose cost was largely covered thanks to a donation in Bitcoin, was in charge of taking the 52-year-old man back to his native country. Assange, who had spent more than five years in a prison in Britain fighting extradition to the US, was greeted by his wife, family and supporters who cheered him as he stepped off the plane.
“Free at last”, wrote the account of WikiLeaks in a post on x.
Assange is known worldwide for his leaks and denunciations to various governments, including the disclosure of more than 90,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dating back to 2004, which the US government says threatened national security and helped the adversaries.
The United States Department of Justice filed multiple charges against the founder of WikiLeaks in 2019 under the United States Espionage Act.
The Australian appeared in a US court to formalize the deal, officially pleading guilty to one count of illegally conspiring to obtain and disseminate classified information regarding his alleged role in one of the largest breaches of classified material in US military history. how to report cnn.
The trial took place in a court in Saipan, the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, which are located about 6,000 kilometers west of Hawaii, the newspaper adds.
“As a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified so I could publish it. I think the First Amendment protected that activity… I think the First Amendment and the Espionage Act are in contradiction to each other, but I accept that it would be difficult to win a case like that given all these circumstances“Assange said at the hearing
Donation in Bitcoin covered Assange’s costs
Assange’s return home had a high cost, since the journalist was not allowed to fly on commercial flights but on a private flight that he had to pay to his government.
To meet these expenses, a financing campaign was started with a goal of USD $520,000 that aimed to pay for Assange’s flight and some other costs. The donation page included fiat options as well as cryptocurrency donations in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dash, Zcash, Dogecoin, XRP and Monero.
A few hours after starting the campaign, a single anonymous donation in Bitcoin managed to cover a large part of the fundraising goal. In particular, the chain data shows that An unidentified user donated 8.07 BTC, currently worth approximately $495,000, to Assange’s campaign. In total, nearly $498,000 was raised in just Bitcoin.
“Assange will therefore arrive in Australia debt-free thanks in large part to the generosity of a single Bitcoin whale”, commented in X the CIO of the Altana Digital Currency FundAlistair Milne.
Donations to the other cryptocurrency addresses listed on the page were minimal, as noted The Block. Meanwhile, donations of more than $300,000 in fiat currencies easily surpassed the goal.
Assange had already enjoyed support from the cryptocurrency community. In 2022 AssangeDAO had been formed, a decentralized autonomous organization whose The goal was to raise funds to fight for the freedom of the founder of WikiLeaks.
An AssangeDAO member claimed that more than 11,000 ETH, equivalent to USD $37 million, had been allocated for defense and legal support of the 16,593 ETH raised by AssangeDAO since its creation, according to the coverage. “[Es] a great victory for cryptocurrencies”said to DL News Harry Halpin, co-founder of AssangeDAO.
Despite the news, the JUSTICE token of AssangeDAO has fallen more than 20% in price in the last 24 hours, according to data.
Article by Hannah Estefanía Pérez / DailyBitcoin
Picture of Unsplash
WARNING: This is an informative article. DiarioBitcoin is a media outlet, it does not promote, endorse or recommend any particular investment. It is worth noting that investments in cryptoassets are not regulated in some countries. They may not be suitable for retail investors as the entire amount invested could be lost. Check the laws of your country before investing.
