Julian Assange, the co-founder of WikiLeaks, has won his 14-year fight against extradition to the United States, thanks in part to a generous contribution from an anonymous Bitcoin user. This person donated more than 8 Bitcoins, which currently equate to approximately $500,000, to aid in paying off the debts accrued by Assange’s family due to his travel and living expenses.
Assange was discharged from the high-security Belmarsh prison in the UK after striking a plea deal with U.S. authorities. After his release, he left the UK for Saipan, a U.S. territory in the Northern Mariana Islands, on a private jet. Subsequently, he made a court appearance in Saipan, during which he admitted to a single charge of breaching the U.S. Espionage Act via the leak of classified information.
Assange’s wife, Stella, explained that freedom comes with a price. Assange was obliged to remunerate $520,000 to the Australian government for the compulsory chartering of flight VJ199 to Saipan and Australia. To assist with these costs, Stella established a crowdfunding initiative. Within just 10 hours, an anonymous Bitcoin user had donated more than 8 Bitcoin to the cause, almost reaching the target of $520,000. Additionally, he received over 300,000 British pounds (approximately $380,000) in regular currency donations.
On June 26, at Assange’s court hearing, Judge Ramona Manglona handed him a sentence of 5 years and two months for pleading guilty to espionage charges. However, having already served an equal amount of time in prison in the UK, Assange exited the court a free individual. Subsequently, he flew privately to Canberra, Australia. As part of his plea agreement, Assange was obligated to get rid of all classified information given to WikiLeaks.