After Visa, Mastercard and PayPal blockaded WikiLeaks in December 2010, supporters proposed funding it with Bitcoin. Satoshi pushed back, warning the project was too young to survive that kind of attention: "WikiLeaks has kicked the hornet's nest, and the swarm is headed towards us."
Key takeaways
Satoshi feared premature, politically charged attention could kill Bitcoin.
Contains his penultimate public message before going silent.
An early collision between Bitcoin's censorship-resistance and real-world politics.
Historical importance
One of the last windows into Satoshi's thinking, and the moment Bitcoin's political implications became unavoidable.
Major quotes
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“It would have been nice to get this attention in any other context. WikiLeaks has kicked the hornet's nest, and the swarm is headed towards us.”