On February 3, the group start accepting ether donations on crypto crowdfunding platform Juicebox, which ended up raising around $52 million. In exchange for their contributions, all donors received $JUSTICE crypto tokens, giving holders a say in how AssangeDAO’s resources are used. That factor, Taaki says, makes the DAO mechanism more efficient at raising funds than simply asking for direct donations in dollars or cryptocurrencies. “The donations simply don’t work,” he said. “But if you give a little incentive – that’s additional motivation.” Taaki said that AssangeDAO was the perfect way for cypherpunks to rally together to “liberate the original cypherpunk: Assange.”
During the lead-up to the auction, the team debated whether they should bid less on the project and keep the cryptocurrency aside for other projects focused on Assange, but in the end all both successful: AssangeDAO’s winning offer — 16,593 ETH — over $40 million more second highest bidare from CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken.
Assange’s history is verified: He was investigated for sex crimes in Sweden, hid in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition, and allegedly distributed hacked documents by the GRU’s GRU. Russia. But Noa said that whatever one thinks of Assange, the charges against him are a “treachery” and represent a greater threat to “press freedom and the protection of whistleblowers”. fox.”
Stella Moris, a lawyer and partner of Julian Assange, said the DAO “provides a new model for political prisoners and causes for inciting support”. She said she hopes others will follow in its footsteps.
Originally considered the crypto industry Missing answer for Kickstarter, the DAO was used to raise capital for crypto startups while providing backers with a stake through custom tokens. Now, they are also evolving into devices for coordinating other types of collective action — from activists to politicians to fickle people. Last year, not long before FreeRossDAO, ConstitutionDAO raised $47 million in an unsuccessful attempt to purchase an original copy of the US Constitution (which was eventually caught by a hedge fund manager). In 2018, Taaki, who in the 2010s fought the Kurds against the Islamic State in Syria, announced plans to create a hacker academy proficient in cryptography and revolutionary techniques. He said he would probably launch a DAO to fund that project.
These new types of DAOs can still be problematic under certain circumstances: Cryptocurrency advocates who decide to participate risk exposure. While widely touted as completely private, the most popular cryptocurrencies are in fact just pseudonyms and leave a permanent trail that, in some cases, can lead to a person’s identity. use. “For now, the process is completely transparent. That might be fine for something like the ConstitutionDAO, but when it comes to something like the AssangeDAO, it creates risks for both the sponsors and the organizers,” said O’Leary.
During a crypto conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 2021, Taaki and O’Leary revealed a project called DarkFi—A pun on crypto-powered decentralized finance, or “DeFi,” that would provide stronger anonymity features for crypto and DeFi users. DarkFi aims to make DAO’s crowdfunding completely anonymous, minimizing any risks associated with backing controversial causes or figures. “We will have DAOs and completely anonymous auctions where no one can see whatever is happening,” Taaki said.
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