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AssangeDAO raises $55 million in six days to free WikiLeaks founder
"The desire to achieve Julian's liberation and uphold civil liberties" drove the increase in donations, AssangeDAO's core moderator Josh, who goes by the username JB87, told Blockworks A watch NFT was purchased by the DAO for 16,593 Ether, about $53 million, to fund Assange's defense and legal costs A week ago, AssangeDAO launched a project to raise money for the to collect imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. There was no money back then. Within the first day of launch, over 67 Ether was raised, about $215,000. Fast forward six days to February 9th, and it increased by 25,903...
AssangeDAO raises $55 million in six days to free WikiLeaks founder
- „Der Wunsch, Julians Befreiung zu erreichen und die bürgerlichen Freiheiten aufrechtzuerhalten“, trieb den Spendenanstieg voran, sagte Josh, Kernmoderator von AssangeDAO, der unter dem Benutzernamen JB87 bekannt ist, gegenüber Blockworks
- Eine Uhren-NFT wurde von der DAO für 16.593 Ether, etwa 53 Millionen US-Dollar, gekauft, um Assanges Verteidigungs- und Anwaltskosten zu finanzieren
A week ago, AssangeDAO launched a project to raise money for imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. There was no money back then.
Within the first day of launch, over 67 Ether was raised, about $215,000. Fast forward six days to February 9th, and it was up 25,903% to about 17,422 Ether or $55 million on Juicebox – the same platform previously used by ConstitutionDAO in its unsuccessful $49 million bid for an original copy of the US Constitution.
“The desire to achieve Julian’s liberation and uphold civil liberties” drove the increase in donations, AssangeDAO core moderator Josh, who goes by the username JB87, told Blockworks.
Assange faces extradition from London to the US on 18 charges arising from WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of thousands of secret US military files. He is currently in a London prison but is attempting to take his case to the US Supreme Court. If extradited to the US, he faces 175 years in prison for publishing the information, the DAO said.
Assange and Bitcoin
Assange and WikiLeaks have a history with crypto. Wikileaks received contributions through a PayPal account managed by the Wau Holland Foundation. The foundation managed most of Wikileaks' funds, but their account was frozen after they faced backlash for publishing sensitive information that was frowned upon by many at the time. The group then began accepting Bitcoin donations – way back in 2010 – when it was unable to raise money through other means.
That was the first time many people heard about Bitcoin. The move attracted the attention of the cryptocurrency’s illusory creator, Satoshi Nakamoto worried in one of his last public writings that the interconnection of WikiLeaks and Bitcoin could harm the emerging network.
"Bitcoin is a small beta community in its infancy. You wouldn't stand to be given more than change, and the heat you would bring would likely destroy us at this stage," Nakamoto wrote.
The clock
The funds raised will help finance Assange's defense and legal costs through an auction Censored 1/1 Clock NFT (non-fungible token) by crypto artist Pak, in collaboration with Assange.
“The NFT gives the Web3 [and] Crypto community the opportunity to interact with the systems we build and own a work of art that Julian himself contributed to,” said JB87. “The DAO now owns this piece.”
The Watch NFT was purchased on Wednesday morning by the DAO, a collective of self-proclaimed “cypherpunks,” for about 16,593 Ether, or $53 million, and is updated every day to reflect how many days Assange has been incarcerated.
"This DAO represents the passion and energy that the global community feels for achieving justice. Not just for Julian, but for the entire journalism industry," noted JB87.
As of Wednesday, the community-led DAO had over 16,000 followers on Twitter. The DAO uses the Ethereum blockchain to distribute its JUSTICE governance token to contributors who have donated Ether. The tokens have no value yet, but will likely appear on decentralized exchanges and give community members the opportunity to vote on governance proposals for the DAO.
“This is where tens of thousands of people come together to show true strength – the power of the people,” said JB87 on the AssangeDAO Discord. “In less than a week, we demonstrated that decentralized and distributed peoples can come together to fight injustice.”
The post AssangeDAO raises $55 million in six days to free WikiLeaks founder is not financial advice.