In a recent investigation trailing the capitol building’s attack, it has now been revealed that Nicholas Fuentes led Gropyer Army had received about half a million dollars in Bitcoin donations. The storming of the United States Capitol building, which took place on January 6, 2021, was a riot and violent attack against the United States government.

The riot was carried out by a mob of supporters, notably the Grouper Army- a loose group of white nationalist and far-right activists supporting President Donald Trump aiming to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

Fuentes and Co. received donations a month before the attack

In the investigation of the tragic attack that happened, the mobs received about 29 Bitcoins from a French-based computer programmer into about 22 different crypto wallets on December 8, 2020. The date represents about a month ago which the rioters broke into the building after receiving the $550,000 donation. In the investigation, Nicholas Fuentes, the defunct leader of the Gropyer Army, had received about half of the overall donation, despite it being sent into different wallets.

Fuentes, a popular racist and an embracer of white nationalism, was present at the pro-Trump protest, which took place at the National building to join the other mobs to disrupt proceedings at the Congress. The attack investigations further stress that there is a belief that a lot of planning and organization must have gone into the attack by the mobs, considering the funding and a host of other targeted attacks that must have been achieved by the proper organization.

Fuentes, who received about $250,000 before this attack, is not new to accepting donations for scenarios like this, as the American had previously received a personal donation of about $3,000 for protests in the past.

Terrorist financing via cryptocurrency might not mean well for digital assets

Nicholas Fuentes has taken social media, Twitter, to deny all allegations leveled at him in the attack. The activist said he had not called for any of his supporters to kill state legislators who do not support President Donald Trump’s ambitions. The investigations also revealed that groups like anti-immigration organization VDARE, Ethan Ralph’s Gamergate, and many other yet unidentified Bitcoin wallets were beneficiaries of the riot targeted donations.

The riot, which left a police officer and four others dead, has since been condemned by the U.S government, with Donald Trump’s impeachment following suit. There is a growing concern in the cryptocurrency space concerning terrorist financing occurring in different countries as extremists are taking advantage of it to operate beyond the government’s reach.

Although this is the first time it has been recorded, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which is going strong in the race to gain mainstream adoption, might be hampered in its quest if the frequency of incidents like this continues to persist.