WikiLeaks Reveals A Revolutionary Strategy With Bitcoin

In response to the growing risks of censorship, WikiLeaks is launching a major initiative to preserve Afghan war archives on the Bitcoin blockchain. The Spartacus project, unveiled on December 5, 2024, aims to permanently inscribe over 70,000 confidential documents onto the Bitcoin network.

WikiLeaks secures Assange’s Afghan archives via the blockchain

The Spartacus project was announced this Thursday at WikiLeaks’ headquarters in London by Gabriel Shipton, brother of Julian Assange. The initiative consists of engraving 76,911 classified documents on the Bitcoin blockchain via the Ordinals protocol, a technology that allows for indelible data inscription on the network.

This approach aims to sustainably protect these sensitive archives that have revealed the extent of civilian casualties in Afghanistan and the controversial practices of the U.S. military during Operation Enduring Freedom. “This information should last forever,” asserts Gabriel Shipton in an exclusive interview.

The project relies on OrdinalsBot, a well-known infrastructure in the Bitcoin ecosystem, capable of handling massive data inscriptions. Toby Lewis, its founder, specifies that the operation will span multiple blocks of the blockchain due to the considerable volume of documents to process.

Bitcoin and WikiLeaks, a strengthened historic alliance

The choice of Bitcoin to preserve these archives is not insignificant. Indeed, the relationship between WikiLeaks and the first cryptocurrency dates back to 2010, the year when the organization began accepting donations in Bitcoin in response to the global banking blockade.

This historic decision marked a turning point, even prompting a reaction from the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, who expressed concern over the sudden attention on his creation. “WikiLeaks kicked the hornet’s nest,” he wrote on the Bitcointalk forum in December 2010.

Over the years, Bitcoin has become a crucial financial pillar for WikiLeaks, enabling them to raise a significant portion of the 30 million dollars in legal fees needed for Assange’s defense.

The initiative to preserve archives on the Bitcoin blockchain once again demonstrates this technology’s ability to withstand state censorship, embodying the original vision of its creator for a truly free financial and informational system.