Alt-right utilizes bitcoin after crackdown on hate speech

Various alt-right groups have taken to using bitcoin after a slew of technology companies cracked down on online hate speech after the racially charged clashes in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this year.

The cryptocurrency has made it possible for members of alt-right extremist groups to skirt government rules in order to communicate with members of their community and organize events, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

Mic reported on the use of the currency among alt-right extremists earlier this month. 

{mosads}The digital currency is not issued by the government and is solely used online, so it has no physical trace.

The currency’s popularity with the alt-right community reportedly skyrocketed after the deadly white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville in August. 

Online services such as GoDaddy, PayPal and Google were quick to ban various members of the alt-right, saying they had violated the service’s rules against hate speech. 

Alt-right leader Richard Spencer has dubbed bitcoin the “the currency of the alt-right.” 

“We have faced enormous problems from being de-platformed,” Spencer told the Post.

“Bitcoin at least, from what I can tell, is not something from which we can be de-platformed,” he continued.

While it is not known exactly how much members of the alt-right are benefitting from the currency, the Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked about 200 bitcoin wallets belonging to extremists, according to the Post. 

The editor of the neo-Nazi publication The Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin, is also known to use the currency.  

“Bitcoin has helped out a lot,” Anglin told the Post. 

The report comes as the currency has experienced success this year, despite a plunge in crypto assets last week.  

The market for crypto assets is currently at $618 billion.