An anonymous individual who uses Bitcoin as their currency has generously donated over 8 BTC to Julian Assange’s family, amounting to about $500,000. This donation aims to assist the WikiLeaks co-founder’s family to cope with increasing debt from his travel and settlement expenses. Assange, who recently regained his freedom after a 14-year legal battle against extradition to the United States, owes the Australian government $520,000 for the chartered flight expenses to Saipan and Australia. His wife, Stella Assange, launched a crowdfunding campaign to aid in paying the debt. The campaign gained significant attention when the donation link was posted, and an anonymous Bitcoiner gave over 8 Bitcoin to the fund in ten hours, nearly fulfilling the entire goal. The anonymous Bitcoin donation was the largest single contribution to the campaign, surpassing the sum of all other donations in various currencies combined. A DAO called AssangeDAO had previously raised millions in 2023 to bid on an NFT and help Assange in his legal fight to attain freedom. Assange was released from the high-security Belmarsh prison in the United Kingdom on June 24 after a plea agreement was reached with U.S. authorities. He was sentenced to five years and two months in prison for pleading guilty to espionage charges but left the courtroom as a free man due to the time he had already served while fighting extradition. After his release, Assange boarded a private flight and arrived in Canberra, Australia.
