In 7 days, raising over 55 million dollars, is AssangeDAO the "song of freedom" for crypto punks?

Author: BlockBeats

Original Title: "Raising $47 Million to Rescue Assange: A Song of Freedom or a Crypto Scam?"

Since the Spring Festival, AssangeDAO, established to rescue Julian Assange, has been rapidly gaining popularity. JuiceBox shows that since fundraising began on February 3, it has raised a total of 17,422 ETH in just a few days, amounting to approximately $55.6 million at current prices (Chain Catcher has updated the original data). Compared to Constitution DAO, AssangeDAO has already surpassed it.

Assange's name is well-known, as his organization WikiLeaks has exposed a large amount of confidential information revealing numerous misconducts by U.S. federal agencies. Assange faces 18 charges related to the classified information published by WikiLeaks. On December 10, 2021, the U.S. government won an appeal against a British court ruling that prohibited Assange's extradition to the U.S. If extradited back to the U.S., Assange could face a 175-year prison sentence.

The controversy surrounding Assange and WikiLeaks has persisted for years since his arrest, with some viewing him as a criminal violating U.S. laws, while others see him as a Prometheus stealing fire for the people. Regardless of public opinion, he is a well-known figure attracting significant attention, and the DAO established to rescue Assange has gathered a large number of idealists and speculators.

"We are a group of crypto punks dedicated to helping free Julian Assange and opposing his extradition to the U.S. FreeAssangeDAO will collaborate with Julian's family to bid on NFTs, which will help raise funds for Julian's legal defense. Fight for his freedom."

A month before fundraising began, when AssangeDAO was still called FreeAssangeDAO, its official Twitter posted its first message, succinctly stating their purpose. The initiators admitted that the project was inspired by FreeRoseDAO, a DAO that raised funds for the release of Silk Road founder Rose.

Funds Flowing Through Multiple Channels, Financial Direction Questioned

As the fundraising amount continues to grow, doubts about AssangeDAO have gradually surfaced.

Although the project's original intention was to raise funds for Assange's release, interestingly, the funds raised will not be directly donated to Assange's family or any specific organization, but will be used to bid on a piece from the dynamic NFT series "Censored" by crypto artist Pak—specifically, "Clock."

Pak stated that all proceeds from the sale of "Clock" will be donated to the Wau Holland Foundation to cover the legal costs needed for Assange's release.

The Wau Holland Foundation is a registered non-profit foundation in Germany. Established in 2003, the organization is named in honor of Wau Holland, co-founder of the Chaos Computer Club. The foundation aims to help people cope with the surveillance, risks, and opportunities arising from new technological environments and to promote projects that advocate for information freedom.

* (The Wau Holland Foundation prominently displays two ongoing projects on its website)*

Previously, the organization helped WikiLeaks receive donations. Since it began accepting donations in the name of WikiLeaks in October 2009, the foundation has raised $1.3 million for WikiLeaks, allowing it to survive. In 2010, PayPal froze the organization's account on the grounds of illegal activities.

However, some critics argue that the fundraising activity could bypass the complex multi-layered flow of "DAO fundraising—NFT sales—foundation—final destination" and donate directly to Assange's family.

It is worth noting that the "Censored" work consists of two parts: a unique piece (1/1) "Clock" and an open edition (X/X). Pak previously stated that the auction proceeds from "Clock" would be donated to the Wau Holland Foundation, but the open edition does not follow the same path.

• (Currently, the open edition has sold for 574 ETH)*

The revenue from the open edition sales has not been clearly disclosed regarding its financial direction; Pak only vaguely stated that the proceeds "will be used for information freedom, education, digital privacy, health, and animal rights organizations."

Recently, the founding team of the project has also faced scrutiny. The AssangeDAO official website shows that its governance team includes Assange's lawyer Jen Robinson, Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton, his fiancée Stella Morisand, and a community host. However, the specific initiators of the project are not disclosed on the official website.

Some netizens speculate that the initiator may be community host Josh, as he can speak Chinese fluently and has faced community doubts about his true identity. Josh has also stated in Chinese: "The British do not deceive the Chinese." Crypto KOL Chen Mo indicated that Josh is a British person who speaks Chinese and has participated in projects like Harvest and 88MPH.

Censored: A Collective Performance Art by Crypto Punks

This fundraising event has attracted significant attention, yet the core element of the event—the NFT work "Censored"—has not been widely discussed.

Pak's creation "Censored" is a unique NFT that differs greatly from the previously popular NFTs. If you are tired of the various avatar projects flooding the NFT industry, "Censored" will certainly provide you with a different experience.

As mentioned earlier, "Censored" consists of two parts, with the unique piece "Clock" controlling the entire project.

• ("Clock")*

"Clock" is the work that AssangeDAO participated in bidding for. This piece is not a static image but a dynamic work. The main part consists of English numerals, which increase every 24 hours, representing the time Assange has spent in prison.

Assange has spent over 1,300 days in the Belmarsh prison in the UK (equivalent to the Guantanamo prison in the UK), which houses the most serious criminals and terrorists. AssangeDAO states that due to a recent stroke while awaiting trial, Assange is facing significant health issues and stress.

The open edition (X/X) is a collective work created by crypto punks. Users can input any information (limited to 72 characters, supporting only English letters and spaces) to generate their own work. The content of the work displays the user-input information with a strikethrough, perfectly aligning with the theme of "censorship."

• (Created by Pak: "PAK WAS HERE")*

Not only can users determine the content of the work, but they can also set the price themselves; you can even enter 0 ETH in the price field to mint the work for free. The open edition minting is only available for 48 hours. There is no upper limit on the total quantity, but no further issuance will occur after the time limit expires.

An interesting detail is that Pak's rule allows each wallet address to mint only one NFT, but users can easily bypass this restriction by switching wallets. He explained, "Remember, you are only censored when you want to be censored." This seems to remind people not to give up the struggle against censorship.

Currently, approximately 26,000 works have been minted, but the trading volume of this work on OpenSea is 0. The open edition of "Censored" is locked in the wallet after minting, making it impossible to transfer or trade.

When will my NFT truly belong to me? When Assange is released, the clock number representing the days of imprisonment will become 0, the strikethrough symbolizing censorship will be removed from the user-input information, and the NFT will be unlocked, allowing all NFTs to be freely transferred and circulated.

• (Under "censorship," the user-input information becomes difficult to discern)*

In a market flooded with various animal avatars, monster avatars, character avatars, and even still-life avatars, this work stands out as particularly unique.

Looking back at history, whenever technological advancements bring about changes in artistic mediums, the forms and methods of art creation flourish with innovation and variation. The use of artificial pigments has brought richer colors to painting, synthetic materials have provided greater expressiveness to sculpture, and the birth of film has introduced dynamic art pieces to us… Yet, the emergence of this new era-defining technology, crypto, has only resulted in various styles of avatar images.

Pak cleverly combines the off-chain world with NFT works, incorporating the unique concept of "ownership" inherent in NFT technology into the work—Assange is still imprisoned, so you cannot "truly" own your Censored NFT. This creates an intertextual relationship with Assange's situation: "When one person's freedom is violated, it is an infringement on the freedom of all."

• (Gabriel Shipton)*

Earlier today, Assange's brother Gabriel Shipton was interviewed by The Hill. When asked why AssangeDAO was able to raise such a large amount of funds in such a short time, he gave a simple answer.

"You know, this lawsuit is really, really, really unpopular." Assange's brother used "really" three times to express his strong emotions.