A French citizen transferred over $500,000 in Bitcoin, before committing suicide, to various far-right groups that were seen at the Capitol riot.
On Dec. 8, a computer programmer from France named Laurent Bachelier sent $250,000 in Bitcoin to Nick Fuentes, a far-right political commentator and Holocaust denier, according to the Wall Street Journal. The other $270,000 was split among various right-wing groups, according to a Chainalysis report.
Other far right figures who received Bitcoin in the donation include Patrick Casey, Vincent Reynouard, and Ethan Ralph, as well as platforms and websites like the Daily Stormer, VDARE, and Gab. https://t.co/LznOztFphH pic.twitter.com/tgTjbvVlnQ
— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) January 14, 2021
Fuentes was also seen on a live stream days before the riot suggesting to his audience that due to lack of leverage, all they can do to state legislators is “kill them.”
White supremacist and Trump apologist Nick Fuentes encourages his viewers to kill legislators in his stream last night on DLive, earning $2800 for his effort. Dlive should be held to account for promoting and monetizing this violent rhetoric. pic.twitter.com/Efbq9ly1Bo
— megan squire (@MeganSquire0) January 5, 2021
Fuentes was then seen at the Capitol along with many other right-wing extremist figures, such as Baked Alaska and the Proud Boys, according to the New York Times. It is not clear if Bitcoin from the French computer programmer was directly used for the Jan. 6 riot.
The price of Bitcoin has nearly doubled since the Dec. 8 donation, making the $520,000 contribution double to approximately $1,040,000, according to the Coindesk tracker.
“There is no suggestion that the donations were a crime, but as part of their counterintelligence mission federal agencies have sought to better understand whether foreign governments or individuals have played a role in fanning U.S. extremism.” the Wall Street Journal reports.
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