Crypto users donate $400K to Julian Assange defense as Mexico proposes asylum

Published at: Jan. 4, 2021

Amid speculation on social media that United States President Donald Trump may still pardon Julian Assange before leaving office, lawyers are preparing the WikiLeaks founder for many possible legal outcomes as crypto users open their wallets. 

According to Twitter user Whale Alert, users have donated a sizable amount of Bitcoin (BTC) toward the legal defense of WikiLeaks and Assange in the last week. Yesterday, someone sent 8.48 BTC — roughly $280,000 at the time — to support the WikiLeaks founder, while another crypto user donated 4.51 BTC last Wednesday, a transaction worth $125,000.

A donation of 8.48 BTC (281,195 USD) was made to WikiLeaks Donation Wallet!Project: https://t.co/mcVJfZjaf0Tx: https://t.co/5ZLPFxt4KP

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 4, 2021

The funds are coming while Assange’s legal status in the United Kingdom remains uncertain. Today, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that the WikiLeaks founder will not be extradited to the United States. Assange is currently in a U.K. prison but could face charges of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 related to documents provided by intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning if extradited to the United States. At the time of publication, he has not been released.

The judge’s ruling seemed to agree with Assange’s legal team's argument that the WikiLeaks founder has experienced a "deterioration in his mental health" due to the impending charges. Lawyers claimed that any extradition to the U.S. would put him at a "high risk of serious depression leading to suicide."

In response to the ruling, President of Mexico Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he is willing to offer Assange asylum. According to a Reuters report, Lopez Obrador is in favor of pardoning the WikiLeaks founder, referring to him as a journalist in need of protection.

“I’m going to ask the Foreign Minister [...] to ask the government of the United Kingdom about the possibility of letting Mr. Assange be freed and for Mexico to offer political asylum,” said the president.

Before the judge's decision was made public, some high-profile crypto users had been voicing their support of Assange, even pushing Trump to grant Assange a federal pardon before he leaves office on Jan. 20. On Sunday, Blockstream CEO Adam Back implied that Assange should be released given his role as a journalist:

Julian is a journalist. Fact. Inconvenient exposure for malfeasance. It's like countries where journalists are disappeared, but the two faced western variant, from establishment that does not represent the public will, and is a rogue self-interested tactical war machine. https://t.co/mTmZ1VakTr

— Adam Back (@adam3us) January 3, 2021

Unconfirmed rumors have been floating around social media claiming Trump is considering pardoning Assange, along with Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and whistleblower Edward Snowden. However, with only 16 days left in the White House, the U.S. president's window of opportunity for granting pardons or clemency is closing.

Tags
Regulation
Law
United Kingdom
Mexico
Julian Assange
Wikileaks
Related Posts
Could Russia lead Eastern Europe’s crypto boom?
Not unlike many other jurisdictions around the world, Russia has come to recognize the potential benefits and risks flowing from cryptocurrencies by taking its first step to define and codify digital assets. The new Russian legislation dubbed “On Digital Financial Assets” sets a clear direction for the treatment of cryptocurrencies by authorities and how both individuals and businesses can handle them in everyday practice. Nevertheless, the new legislation may give pause to payments companies and fintech companies keen on expanding into the Russian market. While the approach of the Russian legislature toward cryptocurrencies — or digital assets, as they are …
Technology / Sept. 6, 2020
Uphold becomes registered crypto-asset firm in UK post-FCA approval
A European subsidiary of United States-based crypto trading platform Uphold has received approval from the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). According to the FCA website, Uphold’s U.K. subsidiary Uphold Europe Limited gained regulatory approval on Feb. 17, 2022, joining the select list of 32 firms that have received FCA approval as a Registered Crypto Asset service provider, out of the 200 that applied. The approval signifies that the firm is in compliance with the U.K. Anti-Money Laundering and CounTerrorist Financing regulations. In order for crypto exchanges and service providers to offer their services to U.K.-based customers, they must register …
Regulation / Feb. 23, 2022
UK financial watchdog is investigating 50 unauthorized crypto firms
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, has announced it has 50 active investigations as part of its efforts to crack down on unregistered crypto businesses. In a Thursday announcement, the FCA said it had opened more than 300 cases into unregistered crypto firms in the last six months “many of which may be scams.” In addition, the country’s financial watchdog said it was conducting 50 active investigations — which may include criminal probes — into authorized crypto businesses. According to the FCA, U.K. residents sent in 16,400 inquiries between April and September 2021 which included crypto-related scams. The …
Regulation / March 3, 2022
UK financial watchdog extends registration deadline for some crypto firms
The Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulator, has extended the temporary registration status of some firms offering crypto services beyond its March 31 deadline. In a Tuesday statement, the FCA said “a small number of firms” in the crypto space will continue to have temporary registration status in the U.K. “where it is strictly necessary.” The financial regulator reiterated that temporarily exempting the crypto firms from its previously announced March 31 deadline “does not mean that the FCA has assessed them as fit and proper” but included situations in which a company “may be pursuing an appeal” or …
Regulation / March 30, 2022
Accomplice of 'Cryptoqueen' Ruja Ignatova faces extradition to US: Report
Christopher Hamilton, a British national allegedly connected to ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova’s cryptocurrency scheme OneCoin, reportedly faces extradition to the United States on charges related to a scam going back to 2014. According to a Tuesday report from legal news outlet Law360, a judge in the United Kingdom will allow the process to move forward for Hamilton to be extradited to the U.S. on charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Hamilton was allegedly involved in laundering $105 million through the crypto Ponzi scheme OneCoin, which defrauded more than 3 million investors of more than $4 billion through the sale of …
Regulation / Aug. 31, 2022