Catalan Independence Leaders Turn to Bitcoin for Donations

Catalonia, a pseudo-autonomous community and region located in the Northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsular, has been desperately fighting for independence from Spain, especially since the 2017 referendum. According to an article published by El Confidencial, on October 18, 2018, Catalan politician and former president Carles Puigdemont, has requested for cryptocurrency donations from the general public to aid any Catalan Government politicians that have fled the region.

Cryptocurrency Donation Fund for Exiled Catalans

The request for cryptocurrency donations is evident on defensaexili.org, a website and money collection system designed by Peter Sunde, an activist, and co-founder of Piratebay. The site is located in the Caribbean in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The fund is designed to support the promoters of the Independence of Catalonia, especially those who are currently in exile due to the severe and judicial persecution by the Spanish State. To be specific, the beneficiaries of the fund include the former president Carles Puigdemont, the ministers, and other political activists who were forced to leave the nation.

While the website requests donations in credit or debit card and Paypal, El Confidencial reported that the president also requested support and aid in the form of Bitcoin donations as they are significantly harder to trace.

Unlike other mediums of exchange, cryptocurrencies are not dependent on a state or government and are pseudo-anonymous. A Reddit post, however, mentioned that while the Bitcoin address was visible earlier, it must have been recently taken down.

Although the post had a link to the Bitcoin wallet, it wasn’t clear whether the address was the correct one used to aid exiled Catalans. At one point, the wallet contained over 81,000 bitcoins (BTC). The wallet, however, contained only 39 bitcoins in its final balance as of October 19, 2018.

The website explains that when it comes to the management and transparency of funds, an independent counsel will allocate the funds appropriately and that there will be an annual external audit carried out by a professional company. Furthermore, the results will be made public to review. Unfortunately, El Confidencial noted that there hadn’t been a report on the management of the funds in over six months. There also has been no information concerning the identity of the members of the independent counsel.