Bitcoin wave was a boon for white supremacists, research finds

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Some prominent white nationalists invested in bitcoin early on and got richer from its sharp rise in value in recent years, researchers say.

Fringe movements have acquired around tens of millions of dollars in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a study released Thursday by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

While bitcoin is used more as an investment asset today than a functional currency, its early adopters argued that it was a way to conduct financial transactions without any involvement of banks.

For some neo-Nazis, this dovetailed with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on the financial system, said Megan Squire, senior researcher at the Center for Data Analysis and co-author of the report.

“There is a pretty strong libertarian streak running through the far right,” she said. “Crypto seemed to them to be an interesting toy and a way to be in charge of their money and not have to use the central bank. Then when you layer anti-Semitism, like in ‘banks are controlled by Jews “, It makes perfect sense that these early adopters, these libertarian-style guys, got involved in Bitcoin so early on.”

The world of cryptocurrency has grown rapidly in recent years, going far beyond bitcoin to include a wide variety of alternative digital currencies and blockchain-based systems. Blockchain is a concept in which computer networks work together to create distributed systems that can be used to keep track of everything from digital currencies to digital art ownership.

This growth coincided with the rapid appreciation of bitcoin. A single bitcoin is now worth around $ 47,000. Two years ago the price was closer to $ 7,000.

Squire and the report’s other co-author, Michael Edison Hayden, senior investigative reporter at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said they identified more than 600 cryptocurrency addresses used by white supremacists and far-right extremists , including many prominent personalities who have reaped major deals by soliciting bitcoin donations.

A number of payment systems, like credit card companies and apps like PayPal and Stripe, have banned individual white supremacists, making cryptocurrencies more attractive for fundraising on the sidelines.

“Any video streamer you watch, any blog you go to, any of their Telegram channels, they all have Bitcoin addresses or some sort of crypto address where they get donations,” Squire said. .

“At this point, they’re all relying on Bitcoin. This was not the case four years ago, ”she said.

But while some cryptocurrencies are designed to be anonymous, most, including bitcoin, make every transaction public. The same method Squire and Hayden used to compile the report makes the cryptocurrency transactions of many white supremacists visible to anyone who wishes to examine account activity.

“The list of 600 addresses that we analyzed is just a big list that I made of who owns what, and the way we get them is just to watch these guys tell each other where to send the money,” Squire said. “It’s just a matter of literally looking for that stuff in this public ledger.”

Kevin Collier is a reporter covering cybersecurity, privacy and technology policy for NBC News.

Brandy Zadrozny is a senior reporter for NBC News. It covers disinformation, extremism and the Internet.

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