Julian Assange Says Wikileaks Has Made a 50,000% Return on Bitcoin. Here's What That Means

Wikileaks has seen an amazing return on investments in bitcoin, founder Julian Assange says, and he is "thanking" the U.S. government for forcing the controversial organization to get into bitcoin in the first place. In a Tweet on Saturday, Assange said the group's investment in the cryptocurrency has seen a return greater than 50,000% since 2010. Wikileaks began investing in bitcoin back then because global payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal were under pressure by the U.S. government to block the ability of the group to take payments.

Wikileaks has seen an amazing return on investments in bitcoin, founder Julian Assange says, and he is "thanking" the U.S. government for forcing the controversial organization to get into bitcoin in the first place. In a Tweet on Saturday, Assange said the group's investment in the cryptocurrency has seen a return greater than 50,000% since 2010. Wikileaks began investing in bitcoin back then because global payment processors like Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal were under pressure by the U.S. government to block the ability of the group to take payments.

In fact, Bitcoin has seen a more-than 9 million percent return over the dates Assange references. In certain periods in 2010, bitcoin was trading for mere pennies. According to coindesk.com, one unit of bitcoin is now worth a record high of roughly $5,700. Anyone buying bitcoin through much of 2011 and 2012, when one unit was sometimes trading below $1 and was often under $10, would indeed see a return on investment of more than 50,000%, assuming they never sold. However, it's impossible to know how much money Wikileaks has made with bitcoin, because no information is available showing exactly when the group began investing, how much was invested, and how and when deposits and withdrawals took place over the years.

In fact, Bitcoin has seen a more-than 9 million percent return over the dates Assange references. In certain periods in 2010, bitcoin was trading for mere pennies. According to coindesk.com, one unit of bitcoin is now worth a record high of roughly $5,700. Anyone buying bitcoin through much of 2011 and 2012, when one unit was sometimes trading below $1 and was often under $10, would indeed see a return on investment of more than 50,000%, assuming they never sold. However, it's impossible to know how much money Wikileaks has made with bitcoin, because no information is available showing exactly when the group began investing, how much was invested, and how and when deposits and withdrawals took place over the years.

Assange remains a target for federal prosecutors. In April 2017, CNN reported that the U.S. was preparing charges against Assange for allegedly facilitating the publishing of the documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.On Sunday, Hillary Clinton told an Australian news outlet she believes Wikileaks is "now practically a fully owned subsidiary of Russian intelligence.