$500K BTC donation triggers a new probe into the Capitol Hill riot

Law enforcement and investigative agencies have opened new investigations to find the sources that funded Capitol Hill rioters. A report unveiled this news on January 14, noting that a $500,000.00 (£366,822.50) Bitcoin (BTC/USD) transaction triggered further probing into the riots. First flagged on December 8, 2020, the transaction involved someone sending 28.15 BTC consecutively to 22 wallets.

According to the report, most of the wallets that received the funds belonged to right-wing organizations and personalities. While it remained a mystery as to who sent the funds, Chainalysis researchers recently discovered the details of the person that disbursed the money. Moreover, they believe the donor intended to underpin the far-right causes.

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While the motivation is hard to prove, the funds came a month before the violent riot in the Capital, which came after former US President Donald Trump invited supporters to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue and take back America.

An extremist donor

Allegedly, the funds came from a computer programmer in France who first created a BTC address in 2013. Upon further investigation, Chainalysis found that the email linked to the address was linked to a personal blog, which had been inactive since 2014 before the donor published a new post on January 9. Notably, this post came just a day after disbursing the funds.

Shockingly, the blog post read like a suicide note, with the donor saying,

I can’t imagine myself spending my last days more and more diminished, not contributing to society, not fighting to preserve. And that’s one of the things that completely changed for me these last years. I care about what happens after my death. That’s why I decided to leave my modest wealth to certain causes and people. I think and hope that they will make a better use of it.

Among the causes that the donor sought to support is the restoration of Western civilization. He argued that Westerners are encouraged to loathe themselves and reject their ancestors and heritage.

The right-wing figures that received the funds include VDARE, the Daily Stormer, and Nick Fuentes, who got 13.5 BTC worth approximately $250,000.00 (£183,481.25).

Investigating potential foreign involvement in right-wing activities

Commenting on the obtained information, Chainalysis Communications Director Maddie Kennedy said the evidence shows extremists are raising money. She added that the fact that the donor was outside the US means the matter has an international scope. According to her, this is something law enforcement should pay attention to.

Purportedly, the government seeks to prevent future attacks through this investigation. Additionally, it aims to expose potential foreign involvement in right-wing activities.

During a press conference on January 17, US attorney Michael Sherwin said prosecutors are treating this issue as a significant counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation. He added that the probe would see sleuths look into money, travel records, disposition, movement, and communication records of the involved people or entities.