On June 14, 2011, WikiLeaks tweeted:
Quote from: WikiLeaks on June 14, 2011, 11:12:01 PM UTC
“WikiLeaks now accepts anonymous Bitcoin donations on 1HB5XMLmzFVj8ALj6mfBsbifRoD4miY36v”
This came after a financial blockade imposed on WikiLeaks following the CableGate scandal in November 2010. Bank of America, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, and Western Union had all blocked donations to the organization, cutting off an estimated 95% of its revenue.
Six months earlier, on December 5, 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto had warned the community against WikiLeaks adopting Bitcoin:
Quote from: Satoshi Nakamoto on December 05, 2010, 9:08:08 AM UTC“The project needs to grow gradually so the software can be strengthened along the way. I make this appeal to WikiLeaks not to try to use Bitcoin.”
WikiLeaks respected Satoshi’s concern and delayed adoption — notably, the announcement came two months after Satoshi’s final departure.
Bitcoin proved to be WikiLeaks’ lifeline. By 2016, the organization had raised over 4,000 BTC through Bitcoin donations. Julian Assange later stated:
Quote from: Julian Assange
“The American government forced us to invest in Bitcoin — thanks to the financial blockade. We got a 50,000% return.”
It was Bitcoin’s first high-profile turn as censorship-resistant money — and it came only after the one person who had asked WikiLeaks to stay away, Satoshi, was no longer around to object.