A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) established to support the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from prison has successfully raised 12,569 Ether (ETH) worth around $38.8 million at current prices from crypto donations.
Julian Paul Assange, an Australian activist, publisher, and editor, is currently reprimanded at Belmarsh prison since 2019, following a court ruling in December that overruled a British court ruling baring his extradition. Assange is facing charges of conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer network in 2010.
According to JuiceBox, crypto donations to liberate Assange from prison started rolling in late last week, following a heated campaign from various community funding platforms. The funding initiative accelerated over the weekend, increasing two-fold in the past 24 hours to current levels.
Data acquired from the fundraising Twitter feed confirmed that AssangeDAO is now the largest JuiceBox Ether raise in history, outperforming a similar ConstitutionDAO set to purchase an original copy of the United States Constitution in November 2021. At the time, the ConstitutionDAO successfully raised around $49 million.
Buy Crypto NowEfforts Aiming For The Release Of Assange Intensify
AssangeDAO, also described as a “collective of cypherpunks, “now aims to raise ETH in return for JUSTICE governance tokens to establish a non-fungible token (NFT) collection dubbed “Censored.” Interestingly, proceeds from the NFT sales will go towards Assange’s defense fund to cater for legal fees and campaigning to raise awareness about Assange extradition case.”
The funding initiative started in mid-December 2021, barely one day after the U.S. government won its appeal to handle the Assange case from the United Kingdom court. According to the U.S. criminal laws, the WikiLeaks founder attracts 175 years in prison for publishing truthful information.
AssangeDAO got inspired by a similar FreeRossDAO previously set to liberate the infamous Ross William Ulbricht, a computer scientist and founder of the Silk Road, currently facing 40 years imprisonment for creating the dark web marketplace. At the time, the funding initiative successfully raised $12 million.
In the meantime, authorities are still holding Assange in Belmarsh prison for the third year awaiting his verdict. The WikiLeaks founder previously spent almost seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, protected by asylum status.
