Bitcoin has been surging in recent years, topping $5,000 last week. For many early investors, they have made a killing, but for many investors who have just gotten into the game, it can be a bit risky.
One of the earliest adopters of the peer-to-peer decentralized cryptocurrency was Julian Assange of WikiLeaks.
Over the weekend, Assange thanked the United States government for its 50,000 percent return on bitcoin.
In 2010, the U.S. government requested payment companies, like Visa, American Express and MasterCard, to block payments to WikiLeaks. Even PayPal restricted payments to the government transparency organization.
WikiLeaks had no other choice but to turn to bitcoin. And what a maneuver it was.
Since then, the group has seen its bitcoin investment skyrocket more than 50,000 percent, and Assange owes the federal government for making that happen.
Here is his tweet:
My deepest thanks to the US government, Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman for pushing Visa, MasterCard, Payal, AmEx, Mooneybookers, et al, into erecting an illegal banking blockade against @WikiLeaks starting in 2010. It caused us to invest in Bitcoin — with > 50000% return. pic.twitter.com/9i8D69yxLC
— Julian Assange 🔹 (@JulianAssange) October 14, 2017
Bitcoin has its flaws and is far from a libertarian currency, but its infancy helped prove that there can be alternatives to state-run fiat money.
Leave a Comment