CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE STUDIES VANCOUVER EXTREMIST FUNDRAISING
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CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR
SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE STUDIES
VANCOUVER
EXTREMIST FUNDRAISING
Hot Brief
February 5th, 2022
Disclaimer:
This publication contains summaries of open sources and does not
represent the views of the Canadian Association for Security and
Intelligence Studies Vancouver.CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE STUDIES VANCOUVER
Title: Extremist Fundraising
Date: February 5th, 2022
Disclaimer: This publication contains summaries of open sources and does
not represent the views of the Canadian Association for Security and
Intelligence Studies Vancouver.
1. The de-platforming of the Ottawa Convoy’s GoFundMe campaign has arguably pushed fundraising
to new platforms such as GiveSendGo and new payment systems including cryptocurrency
(Warreth, 2019). The freezing of their funds has increased tribal bonds and identity affirmation
which has the potential to strengthen the cohesion of the movement. While the Ottawa Convoy
can no longer fundraise through GoFundMe, there are alternative methods of receiving donations
including e-transfer, bitcoin, and alt-tech which face less scrutiny from the public and public safety
agencies (GoFundMe. n.d.; Blockchain, n.d.; Pran, 2022).
Examples:
- As of February 5th, 2022, over $1 million has been raised from GiveSendGo (GiveSendGo,
2022).
- After being deplatformed by GoFundMe, several cryptocurrency wallets have been
identified and amount to over $200k CDN as February 5th, 2022.
- One of these wallets was notably created by BJ Dicher (Blockchain, n.d.), co-
organizer of original crowdfunding campaign (raised ~$50k CDN from 77
individuals).
- A second wallet owned by an unidentified individual known as HonkHonkHODL
(Tallycoin, n.d.) has raised ~$150k CDN from 2565 individuals.
2. Emerging technologies, in the form of crowdfunding platforms and cryptocurrencies, are
reportedly providing alternative means for extremist groups to raise funds. While RWE groups
previously relied on membership fees and large donations from wealthy sympathizers, the
Internet has enhanced their fundraising capabilities by providing access to larger pools of donors
(Steinau, 2018). Newly created payment processors have enabled RWE groups to raise funds,
bypassing deplatforming efforts by legacy payment processors such as Paypal or Stripe.
Examples
- Gab, an alternative social media platform, has used Bitcoin, self-described as free speech
money, accounting for 30% of its revenue as well as the production of Bitcoin guides to
educate its supporters to use and donate Bitcoin. (Torba, 2019)
555 Burrard St. #700, Vancouver, BC, V7X 1M8 | https://VTSM.org | info@casisvancouver.ca
1CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE STUDIES VANCOUVER
- The Order of Dawn began cryptocurrency crowdfunding in 2018 for Monero where
visitors were allowed to mine Mondero directly on their website to donate to the Order
of Dawn. (Counter Extremism Project, 2019) They have since raised $6,600 to allegedly
purchase firearms and explosives to equip a volunteer army. Crowdfunding platforms
include KickStarter, Patreon, IndieGogo, and GoFundMe, with alternatives such as
Hatreon, WeSearcher, Counter Fund, and MakerSupport used when banned from the
former.
3. Cryptocurrencies and online payment processors allow RWE to circumvent efforts to restrict
fundraising. Under pressure from activist organizations, online payment services such as Paypal
and Apple Pay have banned and restricted access to their services by individuals and groups linked
to RWE, prompting an interest in alternative currencies in bitcoin to raise funds for their
operations (Musil, 2017). There have been major initiatives following public outrage towards the
Charlottesville protests in 2017 to restrict and bar extremists from accessing their finances,
networks, and social media accounts as well as demonetising content produced by actors
designated as radicals (Carson, 2017; Montgomery, 2017; Musil, 2017; Saul, 2019).
Examples:
- A French Donor donated 28.15 Bitcoin (approximately $522,000 USD) to 22 RWE entities
through “Extremist Legacy Wallet”, with RWE influencer receiving 13.5 Bitcoin ($250,000
USD) (Chainalysis Team, 2021).
- Brenton Tarrant, responsible for the Christchurch shootings, donated A$6,600 to RWE
entities prior to his attack. He had declared support for their “great work” and was
declared a “saint” by white nationalists (Dearden, 2020).
4. Online crowdfunding allows RWE entities to cover hosting fees for RWE online communities,
finance merchandise production and events as well as financially support influencers who create
and disseminate extremist content. (Anti-Defamation League, 2017). The use of crowdfunding for
legal defense funds could arguably reduce the cost of conducting unlawful activities by extremist
actors in the pursuit of their goals.
Examples:
- Charlottesville, Virginia “Unite the Right” protests utilized crowdfunding to sponsor
travelling costs to attend the rally under guise of “seeing their brothers” (Lecher, 2017;
Steinau, 2018).
- Kyle Rittenhouse, an individual who fatally shot two Black Lives Matter protesters in
Kenosha, Wis., netted almost $600,000 to pay his legal fees (GiveSendGo, 2020).
555 Burrard St. #700, Vancouver, BC, V7X 1M8 | https://VTSM.org | info@casisvancouver.ca
2CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE STUDIES VANCOUVER
5. Cryptocurrencies are not entirely anonymous. The transparency of cryptocurrency blockchains
can provide a means of tracking transactions and donations which could be used to develop
methods of preventing funds from reaching RWE entities. The donations made by the French
donor were tracked to uncover the identity of the recipients, the medium used, and amounts in
bitcoin. The donor had sent 28.15 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $522,000 USD, to an
intermediary labeled “Extremist Legacy Wallet”, and to 22 RWE recipients (Chainalysis Team,
2021). RWE influencer Nick Fuentes received 13.5 Bitcoin, valued at $250,000 USD (Chainalysis
Team, 2021).
555 Burrard St. #700, Vancouver, BC, V7X 1M8 | https://VTSM.org | info@casisvancouver.ca
3CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE STUDIES VANCOUVER
References:
Anti-Defamation League. (2017). How white supremacists raise their money. Anti-Defamation League.
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/adl-report-funding-hate-how-white-
supremacists-raise-their-money.pdf.
Blockchain. (n.d.).
https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/1Psn2zaGjknUx9QF6hzEBqtyoDk12LyFtz?page=2
Carson, E. (2017, December 4). Here's where Nazi sympathizers go to raise money. CNet.
https://www.cnet.com/news/neo-nazi-sympathizers-crowdfunding/.
Chainalysis Team. (2021, January 14). Alt-Right groups and personalities involved in last week’s capitol
riot received over $500K in bitcoin from French donor one month prior. Chainalysis.
https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/capitol-riot-bitcoin-donation-alt-right-domestic-extremism.
Counter Extremism Project. (2019, June 26). Facebook's new cryptocurrency will be ripe for misuse.
Retrieved from https://www.counterextremism.com/blog/facebook’s-new-cryptocurrency-will-
be-ripe-misuse
Dearden, L. (2020, December 8). Christchurch shooter donated thousands to far-right groups and
websites before attack, report shows. Independent.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/brenton-tarrant-christchurch-
donations-generation-identity-b1768056.html.
GiveSendGo (2020, August 27). Raise money for Kyle Rittenhouse Legal Defense.
https://www.givesendgo.com/GUCZ
GiveSendGo [@givesendgo]. (2022, February 5). We have been under heavy DDOS and bot attacks. In
spite of all of this we still have managed to raise funds 5X faster than the gfm did. GFM raised
10mil in 3 weeks. GSG campaign has already raised over 1.1mil in just over 12 hours! [Tweet].
Twitter.
https://twitter.com/GiveSendGo/status/1489983077912924160?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwc
amp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
GoFundMe. (n.d.). Canada Unity Forum. Retrieved from https://canada-unity.com/community/general-
chat/gofundme/
Lecher, C. (2017, August 30). Neo-Nazis disguised GoFundMe campaign as a ‘family reunion’ in
Charlottesville. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/30/16227142/gofundme-
campaigns-charlottesville-unite-the-right.
555 Burrard St. #700, Vancouver, BC, V7X 1M8 | https://VTSM.org | info@casisvancouver.ca
4CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE STUDIES VANCOUVER
Montgomery, B. (2017, August 2). PayPal, GoFundMe, And Patreon banned a bunch of people associated
with the Alt-Right. Here’s why. BuzzFeed News.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/blakemontgomery/the-alt-right-has-a-payment-
processor-problem#.lx4z4ORxy.
Musil, S. (2017, August 16). Apple Pay, PayPal cut off sites linked to white supremacists. CNet.
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-pay-paypal-cut-off-sites-linked-to-white-supremacists/.
Pran. [@pransauce]. (2022, February 5). they have raised 1.2 million already despite the site constantly
being down. They need to fix the darn site. @GiveSendGo. Tweet.
https://twitter.com/PranSauce/status/1490066237434564610?s=20&t=kznmUTPgOwojdcAEaNui
3Q
Saul, I. (2019, July 18). This Twitter alternative was supposed to be nicer, but bigots love it already.
Forward. https://forward.com/news/427705/parler-news-white-supremacist-islamophobia-laura-
loomer/.
Steinau, M. (2018, January 11). How neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists profit from bitcoin. Business
Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/neo-nazis-and-right-wing-extremists-profit-from-the-
bitcoin-hype-2018-1?r=MX&IR=T.
Tallycoin. (n.d.). Bitcoin for Truckers. https://tallyco.in/s/lzxccm/
Torba, A. (2019, October 07). Bitcoin is free speech money, Gab will introduce it to millions of people.
Retrieved from https://news.gab.com/2019/10/07/bitcoin-is-free-speech-money-gab-will-
introduce-it-to-millions-of-people/
Warreth, S. (2019, November 28). Crowdfunding and cryptocurrency use by far-right and Jihadi groups.
VOX – Pol. Retrieved from https://www.voxpol.eu/crowdfunding-and-cryptocurrency-use-by-far-
right-and-jihadi-groups/
555 Burrard St. #700, Vancouver, BC, V7X 1M8 | https://VTSM.org | info@casisvancouver.ca
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