WikiLeaks is one of the most famous organizations in the world. At its core, WikiLeaks is an international non-profit organization designed to publish leaked news and classified media, provided by various anonymous sources.
It was founded in 2006 by Julian Paul Assange - an Australian activist, editor and publisher. He was arrested in 2019 in London, facing a U.S. charge of conspiring to hack a Pentagon computer network in 2010.
Since WikiLeaks is a non-profit organization, it is supported by donations from individuals or entities that support their cause and their operations. However, because they have posted highly sensitive information on a number of topics, many vendors have blocked payments to the organization. These include Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, and so on.
This is why they have turned to the only form of currency that is impossible to censor - cryptocurrency.
WikiLeaks cryptocurrency donations
According to the organization's official website, options currently available to donate cryptocurrencies to WikiLeaks include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, ZCash, Monero and Ethereum.
Let's go ahead and take a look at each of the addresses provided to see how much money WikiLeaks has received to date.
The Bitcoin address received a total of 30,45 BTC, currently worth $ 1,51 million. At the time of this writing, the closing balance stands at just under 9 BTC.
The first Bitcoin Cash address received a total of 225,2 BCH, currently worth $ 101.800. None of the coins have been moved. The second Bitcoin Cash address contains 0,25 BCH.
The Litecoin address received a total of LTC 163,07, which is currently worth around $ 25.680. None of the coins have been moved so far.
The ZCash address received a total of 84,01 ZEC on its transparent balance, and none of them were used. This is currently worth around $ 13.800.
The Ethereum address appears to be the second preferred donation destination, as it contains 145,45 ETH which is currently worth around $ 587.883.
We were unable to track how many XMR (Monero) the organization received. Interestingly though, someone has also donated 1 CryptoKtties NFT.
The sum of the above number is a little more than $ 2,2 million.
Better than Fiat?
In 2017, founder Julian Assange claimed that WikiLeaks made a 50.000% return on Bitcoin after investing in the cryptocurrency in 2010.
Interestingly, the tweet claiming this was posted in October 2017 when the price of Bitcoin was sitting at around $ 5.000. Later that year, this number would have been something closer to 200K% ROI, as BTC peaked at around $ 20 then.
Today, the ROI would be even higher as BTC is currently trading at one quotation just under $ 50.
Elsewhere, it was reported today that Assange suffered a stroke in Belmarsh Prison - a maximum security prison where he is held in custody.
