Summary
TLDR: Julian Assange was arrested in 2019 after spending years in the Ecuadorian embassy, facing potential extradition to the US on espionage charges. WikiLeaks, which he founded, faced financial blockades until adopting Bitcoin for donations. Over the years, WikiLeaks has received significant Bitcoin donations, now worth millions. Bitcoin users continue to support WikiLeaks, with recent donations totaling over $1 million. Assange’s legal fate remains uncertain as supporters continue to contribute to WikiLeaks through cryptocurrency donations.
Key Points
1. Julian Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London almost five years ago, when the UK arrested the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges levied by the US.
2. He’d spent six and a half years holed up in the embassy, restricted to only 330 square feet. Since then, Assange has been held in a maximum security prison in southeast London, awaiting potential trial in the US.
3. In 2012, Assange requested asylum after a British district court ruled he should be extradited to Sweden due to a spurious rape investigation. Swedish prosecutors later dropped the case after Assange’s arrest in 2019.