WikiLeaks, after Mastercard, Visa and other major payment processors illegally blocked payments, turned to Bitcoin and made 50,000% returns. People still wonder what usecases Bitcoin has.

After WikiLeaks was blamed for sharing classified information that the US government didn't like at all, the US Government illegally forced payment processors including Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and other to block payments to them.

Come 2011 June, when they started accepting Bitcoin donations.

In fact, they wanted to do so earlier, but Satoshi himself asked Julian Assange not to turn to Bitcoin, because he thought that since it was in its early stages, the government interest in Bitcoin would bring unnecessary trouble for them.

Here's what Satoshi had to say about it:

“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. Bitcoin is a small beta community in its infancy. You would not stand to get more than pocket change, and the heat you would bring would likely destroy us at this stage.”

Julian Assange agreed with this, and decided to wait it out.

Half a year later, in June of 2011, they started to accept Bitcoin, and saw 50,000% increase only in 6 years, after being forced to hold Bitcoin.

People always ask what usecases Bitcoin has, but what better example of it than this?

Further read:

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/09/16/assange-bitcoin-and-wikileaks-helped-keep-each-other-alive/

45 thoughts on “WikiLeaks, after Mastercard, Visa and other major payment processors illegally blocked payments, turned to Bitcoin and made 50,000% returns. People still wonder what usecases Bitcoin has.”

  3. Well this is basicly one of the main usecases of btc.. The freedom to send value anywhere.

  4. If you strike my bank account down Ill become more profitable than you could possibly imagine!

  5. Were the BTC donations held long enough to see those 50,000% gains? Or were they used immediately to fund their operations? Because that makes a huge difference.

  8. I believe there is so much content on btc already a 5 season Netflix series could be made on it. 2010s btc was really wild west

  14. > … but Satoshi himself asked Julian Assange not to…

    My favourite part of these 2010s Bitcoin tales is where “Satoshi himself” communicates with us mere mortals.

  16. Everyone is perfectly happy with trading convenience for “a small amount” of governmental control… until the government ignores its own laws and turns authoritarian.

  18. Just goes to show the power of Bitcoin in bypassing unjust restrictions and providing financial freedom for all.

  21. You know, I always wonder how much Bitcoin donations they actually received.

    Out of curiousity I just checked their website and they have really leaked anything since 2018.

  22. Just the fact that banks can put holds and stops on your account is wild. It’s my money, let me pull out as much as possible.

  24. I feel like this could be built upon for a BTC ad (not that bitcoin needs one but because I want BTC to have one xD) it could be something like:

    “Financial freedom; this is the one trick governments HATE the most!”

  32. The government didn’t want us to know their dirty secrets and this Julian made it possible with the help of Bitcoin. Hats off to Julian and Satoshi.

  33. Its not just wiki-leaks, apparently if you don’t want Google spying on you by using a de-googled fork of android you might be suspicious too

    https://grapheneos.org/donate#paypal

  35. I love reading quotes from Satoshi. He was so prescient it was like he could see the future!

  36. Impressive. An actual quality post that brings useful information and is not just moon farming. This one actually deserves upvotes.

  37. Not sure if i am buying this alleged conversation with Satoshi. However, the trucker incident in Canada still shows that, at the root if your banking purchases are through a bank, authoritarian gubberment can still block you at the root. Cool story though.

  38. ‘Basically, bring it on,’ wrote one poster. ‘Satoshi Nakamoto,’ the pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin, responded: “No, don’t ‘bring it on.’ 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. Bitcoin is a small beta community in its infancy. You would not stand to get more than pocket change, and the heat you would bring would likely destroy us at this stage.

    ​

    Damn what wise words from Satoshi!

  40. Making money is an use case strong enough today.

    You finna tell me that money can’t buy happiness? That’s just a wrong way to use money!

  44. “Asset price went up” is not a usecase. Had people sent Apple Shares the returns would’ve been similar.

Comments are closed.