Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks co-founder, who has faced extensive legal battles over the years, walked free on Monday. Reports suggest that more than 11,000 Ether (approx worth $37 million) out of the net 16,593 ETH raised by AssangeDAO have been spent. The amount was used in Julian Assange’s legal defense and campaigning.
ETH donation helped a lot
According to reports, these funds were managed by the Wau Holland Foundation through their multisig wallet on the Safe platform. It is important to note that there were security reasons that prevented full transparency on the fund allocation.
Experts are asking the Wau Holland Foundation to provide a detailed accounting of how the funds were allocated. However, calls for a detailed accounting of the funds have grown louder.
Ethereum, used in donations for Julian Assange’s legal defense and campaigning, is on a constant decline. The slump has come after gaining regulatory clarity over the nature of crypto. ETH price is down by 12% in the last 30 days. However, it managed to recover by 2% in the last 24 hours.
Ether is trading at an average price of $3,368, at the press time. Its 24 hour trading volume is up by 4% to stand at $18 billion with a market cap of $404 billion.
Assange left the United Kingdom after long running negotiations with the US Department of Justice (DOJ). His departure marks a crucial moment in his long-standing legal saga. He boarded a private jet at Stansted airport.
Julian Assange walks free
WikiLeaks founder headed first to Saipan where he expected to be sentenced to five years. However, there is a credit for the five years that he spent incarcerated in the UK.
Assange was arrested in the United Kingdon authority for breaching bail conditions after seeking asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy. This was done to avoid extradition on charges related to publishing classified documents provided by Chelsea Manning.
He faced additional charges of rape and sexual assault in Sweden, which were later dropped. The US charges against Assange took the main toll on his legal struggles.
This case sparked global debates on press freedom and the rights of whistleblowers. However, Assange will not spend any additional time in US custody. He will receive credit for his time served in the UK. WikiLeaks co-founder is expected to return to Australia, as confirmed by a letter from the US Department of Justice.
