WikiLeaks Remained Afloat Thanks Returns on Bitcoin Investments

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has revealed in a new book that his organization managed to stay afloat thanks to “strategic investments” in bitcoin that helped the organization cover piling costs in financial and legal areas, The Daily Dot reports.

WikiLeaks — much to the disapproval of world governments — is a journalistic outlet that publishes secret information. Its controversial work has led major financial institutions like PayPal, VISA, and MasterCard to block funds serving as donations, with an attempt to financially cripple the organization to its demise.

Using bitcoin, however, WikiLeaks managed to find a funding avenue that couldn’t be stopped by traditional financial institutions.

And two price spikes in 2013 allowed the organization to reap the returns of their bitcoin donations. First when the price topped $200 in April of last year, and then later in the year when the price topped $1,000.

Julian Assange has made no secret of his interest in this digital currency, in which he tried to explain the benefits to Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.

“And [bitcoin] is very important, actually,” Assange told Schmidt during a meeting (view the transcript of the meeting here). “It has a few problems. But its innovations exceed its problems.”

The public bitcoin address for WikiLeaks shows they have received 3,859 bitcoins (worth $2.26 million at the time of this writing), with a remaining balance of 3.88 bitcoins.