A single benefactor made cryptocurrency donations worth more than $216,000 to extremists and hate groups between September 2021 and April 2022, according to an analysis provided to Hatewatch by the SPLC’s Data Lab. The single biggest beneficiary was antigovernment extremist Ammon Bundy’s People’s Rights Network (PRN), which received transfers worth $93,000. Hatewatch was first alerted to the cryptocurrency donations to PRN by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Other major beneficiaries include white nationalist publication VDARE, which received $42,000, and white nationalist organization American Renaissance, which received $35,000. The donations continue a pattern of anonymous big-money benefactors using cryptocurrency to conceal their identities and avoid accountability for funding extremists. Hatewatch has previously reported on similar donations including over $8 million donated to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. DONOR COVERS TRACKS The mystery donor concealed the original source of the donations by using Tornado Cash, a so-called “mixer” service that disguises the origins of cryptocurrency transfers. Tornado Cash has since been sanctioned by the U.S. government due to its use in money-laundering, including by hackers sponsored by the North Korean regime.
via splcenter: EXTREMISTS RECEIVE LARGE ETHEREUM CRYPTOCURRENCY DONATIONS