WikiLeaks has announced that it has received more than $2 million in cryptocurrency donations since 2010.
Summary
What is Wikileaks
Wikileaks is an international non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Julian Paul Assange, which became famous for the scandals that broke out following the publication of confidential documents and conversations concerning the actions or facts of various international institutions and sovereign states.
In the last few days, a British court has granted the extradition to the US of Assange, who was arrested in 2019 in London, on charges of conspiring against US national interests by breaching the security of the Pentagon’s computer system in 2010.
Why Wikileaks chose cryptocurrencies
The decision by Wikileaks to rely on cryptocurrencies for its financial sustenance is a consequence of the US blocking of funding for the organization in 2010.
Assange then decided to accept payments in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Monero.
Payments in cryptocurrencies are very difficult to trace and therefore difficult to block. For this reason, sovereign states such as Iran, Cuba or Venezuela are also using cryptocurrencies to circumvent US embargoes.
In recent weeks, the donations have reportedly increased considerably, especially after the British court’s decision to grant extradition. An anonymous investor reportedly donated about 8.5 Bitcoin.
Assange, who is being held in a high-security British prison while awaiting extradition to the United States, is said to have suffered a minor stroke in recent days.
Donations and cryptocurrencies
Wikileaks is certainly not the first non-profit organization to receive donations in cryptocurrencies.
There are many companies that specifically deal with fundraising with the help of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. For example, recently the Umberto Veronesi Cancer Foundation announced that it also accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment to support its activities.
According to recent research by Fidelity Charitable, cryptocurrency donations in 2020 will surpass those made in fiat currencies. Also according to the research in the US, around 45% of those who invested in cryptocurrencies in 2020 would have made a donation compared to 33% of those investing in fiat currency.
Giving Block, the leading cryptocurrency donation and nonprofit company, which raised $130 million in cryptocurrency donations in 2021, believes that cryptocurrency donations will exceed $1 billion in 2022.
