Julian Assange: "Blockchain is more than just Bitcoin. Its about safeguarding against manipulation!"

12 whole years ago, Julian made a prophylactic statement on Bitcoin by predicting how cryptocurrency would play a crucial role in decentralisation and privacy. In the statement he said

"In the era of mass surveillance, the last free living people will be the ones who know how to use cryptography"

Just like he predicted, Bitcoin really became the biggest thing today. But Assange's affinity with Bitcoin didn't just stop at one statement; in fact, Bitcoin has been a crucial part of his release and road to freedom.

WikiLeaks turning to Bitcoin after bank institutions turn their backs on Assange

Wikileaks began accepting Bitcoin after global institutions one by one turned their backs on WikiLeaks in what Julian Assange would call a "Financial Blockade."

It started with PayPal, who originally stated it has received a letter from the State Department only to correct his story and saying it had made its decision after seeing the purposely misleading letter the State Department sent to PayPal.

After PayPal, many other big names in the Fintech also started blocking WikiLeaks from their platform. For example, Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America all block the platform, citing their "term of service for their decision."

This had a heavy impact on the impact of WikiLeaks, who lost a whopping 95% of its revenue overnight.

WikiLeaks becoming public enemy number one

In a matter of days, WikiLeaks became the number one public enemy after he offended the powerful by releasing more than 250,000 U.S state Department cables that it received from former Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.

WikiLeaks also shed light on the CIA infiltration of French political parties, spying on French and German leaders and software injections into smart TVs, cars, and iPhones.

Assange Family raising Bitcoin to free Julian

In early 2024, Stella Assange, Wife of Julian Assange revealed that it would personally cost Julian a staggering $520,000 USD to attain freedom. Out of desperation, his family started a donation drive to raise funds for Julian's release.

Because WikiLeaks was already blacklisted by most of the global financial system at this point of time, the family could only collect their donations through Bitcoin.

Although the U.S State Department called WikiLeak's actions illegal, there is no law in the US law that specifically targets the publishing of classified documents. Eventually, no charges were filed against Julian and WikiLeaks enjoyed a small victory.

After his release in June, Julian said in a speech to the Council of Europe

"I pled Guilty to seeking information from a source. I pled guilty to obtaining information from a source. And I pled guilty to informing the public what that information was."

While many would say that Assange's release is the biggest victory for WikiLeaks, it seems that Julian doesn't think it that way.

Assange sees a higher purpose for Blockchain

After his release, Julian Assange wasn't just active in front of the media, but he was also very active online.

He even started a Reddit AMA(abbreviation for Ask Me Anything), where he revealed the great potential for blockchain and journalism. He states that blockchain could even save us from a memory hole and promote greater transparency.

Assange said in his Reddit AMA:

"Bitcoin's real innovation is a globally verifiable proof publishing at a certain time. The whole system is built on that concept and many other systems can also be built on it. The blockchain nails down history, breaking Orwell's dictum of 'He who controls the present controls the past and he who controls the past controls the future. "