Bitcoin Donation Frees Julian Assange: Mystery Benefactor Revealed

According to blockchain data, 8.2 BTC (approximately $492,254) was transferred from a multisignature wallet to Julian Assange's Bitcoin donation address, as displayed on the freeassange.org website.

On Wednesday, Stella Assange, the wife of the WikiLeaks founder, appealed for financial support, seeking $520,000 to settle a debt to the Australian government. Assange was prohibited from taking commercial flights for his court appearance in Saipan and his subsequent return to Australia, necessitating funds for a charter flight, VJ199.

The Assange family had raised over 78% of their target funds through Crowdfunder by Wednesday. The Bitcoin donation received on Tuesday nearly covered the entire debt.

Assange walked free after pleading guilty to one charge of espionage on Wednesday and has since returned to Australia. Judge Ramona Manglona acknowledged that Assange’s actions caused "no actual physical harm."
Who Sent the Bitcoin?

Two individuals have indirectly claimed credit for the donation. Internet personality Andrew Tate responded with a gift emoji to a tweet highlighting the transaction, but the online Bitcoin community demanded he prove control of the sender's address.

Later, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey made a subtle claim with his tweet, "Safe passage through," posted at 5:03 PM ET on Tuesday, coinciding with the transaction time.

Dorsey's company, Block, is involved in various Bitcoin infrastructure initiatives, including a multi-signature wallet vendor, a mining chip manufacturer, and the Bitcoin purchasing platform CashApp. Dorsey has a history of donating to Bitcoin developers and holds BTC on his company's balance sheet.