WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, alongside his supporters, is launching a new initiative to preserve the Afghan War Logs on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The project, dubbed Project Spartacus, aims to mint 76,911 uncensored documents from the Afghan War Diary into Bitcoin inscriptions using the Ordinals protocol.
This move seeks to ensure the documents, which chronicle critical aspects of the Afghan war, are securely stored in a decentralized and immutable manner for future generations.
Preserving the Afghan War Logs
The Afghan War Diary, originally released by WikiLeaks in July 2010, consists of over 91,000 classified U.S. military reports spanning the years 2004 to 2010. These documents contain sensitive details about the war, including civilian casualties, interrogation methods, and confidential military operations.
Leaked by Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, the War Logs provided an unprecedented insight into the realities of the war in Afghanistan.
For Assange and his supporters, ensuring the long-term preservation of these documents is crucial. Gabriel Shipton, chairman of the Assange Campaign, emphasized the importance of keeping this information accessible and immutable.
“Having all that data stored on-chain, forever immutable, is very important for our society to learn from our mistakes,” Shipton told Decrypt in an interview. “That’s what Julian was always about, publishing these secrets so people can understand what happened and make corrections to their institutions and society.”
Project Spartacus: Minting the War Logs on Bitcoin
The project to inscribe the Afghan War Logs on the Bitcoin blockchain will be led by Shipton, who has partnered with Ordinalsbot to mint the documents as Bitcoin inscriptions.
Starting on December 12, 2024, the initiative will allow users to participate in the process of minting the 76,911 uncensored articles, ensuring that they are permanently etched onto the Bitcoin blockchain.
By doing so, the Afghan War Logs will be preserved in a decentralized, censorship-resistant environment, preventing the risk of data loss or manipulation that could occur if the documents were stored on traditional servers or services.
“Having this information on the Bitcoin Blockchain just really takes Julian’s legacy and WikiLeaks’ legacy to the next level,” Shipton said. “The Afghan War Diary is no longer on a service somewhere that could go down.” This move ensures that the documents will be preserved in perpetuity, with their availability and authenticity protected by the decentralized nature of Bitcoin.
Also read: “Bitcoin Technology Could Defeat Internet Censorship,” Says Julian Assange Wife
Julian Assange’s Legacy and Bitcoin
The Afghan War Diary is not the first time Assange and WikiLeaks have been connected to Bitcoin. Assange’s organization has historical ties to cryptocurrency.
In 2010, when financial institutions began blocking payments to WikiLeaks, Assange turned to Bitcoin as a fundraising tool, recognizing the potential of cryptocurrency to bypass traditional financial systems.
However, Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was reportedly opposed to WikiLeaks using Bitcoin as a payment method, reflecting the early tension between cryptocurrency and politically controversial causes.
Assange agreed to enter a guilty plea to a single charge of violating the US espionage legislation, which resulted in his release from prison in the UK and his return to Australia.
Assange’s advocacy for transparency, free speech, and government accountability remains a core part of his legacy.
Looking to the Future
Project Spartacus is a bold step in ensuring that important historical documents, such as the Afghan War Diary, are protected against the risks of censorship and government intervention.
By leveraging the Bitcoin blockchain, Assange’s supporters are taking his vision of permanent, uncensored information to the next level. As the project launches in December 2024, it will continue to be a key moment in the ongoing conversation around freedom of speech, privacy, and the role of technology in protecting information.