New research shows that Bitcoin's success in recent years has benefited some prominent white nationalists who invested early in the cryptocurrency.
"We reviewed 600 different wallets and we estimate that tens of millions of dollars have been churned out by the extreme far right since starting at around January 2012," Michael Hayden, senior investigative reporter at Southern Poverty Law Center, told KCBS Radio.
Hayden made it clear that he is not condemning cryptocurrency, but explained that it is important to realize how much wealth is hidden in the extreme far right.
"That wealth gives an advantage to the far right that they haven't had in this country throughout our history," he said.
Cryptocurrency allows users to hide their dealings from federal law enforcement and the general public. It has uncovered a way for very wealthy people, either foreign or domestic, to donate to an extremist group and cover up those donations, Hayden said.
"In some cases there are people who don’t want people to know that they are fueling the far-right, so you may have people who anonymously give bitcoin to someone who is facing a criminal case to help with their legal fight," he explained. "Maybe they're front running a neo-Nazi website like the Daily Stormer, which has received many anonymous donations in cryptocurrency."
There have been discussions nationally about how to regulate cryptocurrency, but for the mean-time, Hayden said he and his team are "getting a lot closer to figuring out who is donating."
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