An anonymous Bitcoiner has donated over 8 BTC, equivalent to approximately $500,000, in support of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange’s family as they faced mounting debt from his travel and settlement expenses.
Assange, who has recently regained his freedom after a 14-year battle against extradition to the United States, was required to pay $520,000 to the Australian government for the chartered flight expenses to Saipan and Australia.
Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, initiated a crowdfunding campaign after his return to Australia to alleviate the financial burden.
“Julian’s travel to freedom comes at a massive cost: Julian will owe USD 520,000 which he is obligated to pay back to the Australian government for charter Flight VJ199,” she wrote on X.
Bitcoin User Donates 8 BTC to Assange
The campaign garnered significant attention when she posted the donation link on June 25.
Within a mere 10 hours, an anonymous Bitcoiner contributed over 8 Bitcoin to the fund, nearly fulfilling the entire goal of $520,000.
In addition to the cryptocurrency donation, the fund received over 300,000 British pounds ($380,000) in fiat currency donations.
The anonymous Bitcoin donation stood out as the largest single contribution to the campaign, surpassing the sum of all other donations received in various currencies combined.
It is worth noting that there have also been other efforts to support Assange within the crypto space in the past.
In 2023, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) dubbed AssangeDAO raised millions to bid on an NFT and help Assange in his legal effort to get free.
As reported, popular digital artist Pak also collaborated with the WikiLeaks founder to release a new NFT collection dubbed ‘Censored’.
Assange Released from Prison
Assange was released from the high-security Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom on June 24, following a plea agreement reached with U.S. authorities.
Shortly after his release, he embarked on a private plane from a London airport to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, strategically avoiding setting foot on American soil.
On June 26, Assange made an appearance in a district court in Saipan, where he pleaded guilty to breaching the U.S. Espionage Act by leaking classified documents.
During Assange’s court appearance, Judge Ramona Manglona sentenced him to five years and two months in prison for pleading guilty to espionage charges.
However, due to the time he had already served in the United Kingdom while fighting extradition, Assange left the courtroom as a free man.
Following his release, Assange boarded a private flight and arrived in Canberra, Australia, at 9:39 am UTC.
Throughout his legal journey, Assange argued that the Espionage Act, under which he was charged, conflicted with the First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that encouraging sources to provide classified information for publication could be deemed illegal.
As part of his plea deal, Assange was obligated to destroy all classified information entrusted to WikiLeaks.
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