AssangeDAO members seek transparency on $37M

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was released from prison onTuesday and the members of an onchain DAO called AssangeDAO are calling for transaprency.

AssangeDAO was created to raise funds for Assange’s defense and release and accumulated $37M.

Following the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Belmarsh prison on Tuesday, the token for AssangeDAO (JUSTICE) surged by over 60% within 24 hours. The Australian publisher and activist had been held in the British high-security facility for more than 1,900 days due to an alleged violation of the U.S. Espionage Act.

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) was formed in December 2021 to collectively gather financial support for Julian Assange’s defense. According to Silke Noa, one of the DAO’s core contributors, donors raised approximately 16,593 Ether (ETH), valued at over $56 million at current market prices.

The Wau Holland Foundation managed and disbursed about $37 million of these funds through a Safe (formerly Gnosis) multi-sig address. However, a full accounting of expenses has not been disclosed.

“There were arguably security reasons that prevented full transparency on the fund allocation to avoid prejudicing Julian’s case,” Noa stated on X following Assange’s release. Noa, along with several others, has called on the Wau Holland Foundation to clarify how the funds were allocated to the defense effort.