NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Was Paid $35k to Discuss Bitcoin

The notorious NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, was paid to discuss bitcoin and other digital assets at virtual conferences, according to a new court filing called “Edward Snowden Speaking Engagements 2015-2020.” Snowden has always been a supporter of digital currencies and during the mid-March crypto market carnage, the infamous whistleblower said he “felt like buying bitcoin.”

Edward Snowden has been in the news lately, as U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about the possibility of pardoning the NSA whistleblower. Of course, that never happened and instead, Trump pardoned suffragette Susan B. Anthony over a $100 fine she never paid.

Additionally, newly filed court documents show that Edward Snowden was paid to discuss cryptocurrencies at two specific virtual conferences during the last few years.

The documents stem from the case against Snowden, created by the U.S. government, that claims the former CIA and NSA contractor breached his contract after publishing his memoirs.

In fact, the U.S. government does not appreciate Snowden’s book and a number of speeches he has given over the years. The government stresses in its formal complaint that “[Snowden] published a book without submitting the manuscript for prepublication review and has given speeches without submitting the necessary materials for prepublication review.”

The document submitted to the court on August 14, 2020, discusses Snowden’s speaking engagements and how he was paid for a few speeches to engage in interviews about bitcoin (BTC) and various altcoins.

The court filing was submitted by the President of the American Bureau Program, Robert Walker.

The “Edward Snowden Speaking Engagements 2015-2020” shows that the former CIA and NSA contractor made around $35k for speaking at the two cryptocurrency engagements. The documents show that Snowden was paid $20,000 to speak at the 2018 Blockstack Berlin event.

The following year, Bitcoin Magazine’s owner BTC Media paid Snowden around $15k for his virtual presence at the Bitcoin 2019 conference in San Francisco.

According to the spreadsheet submitted by Walker, between 2015 and 2020, Snowden was contracted to speak at 67 events throughout the five-year span. The U.S. government believes it owed proceeds from Snowden’s funding that stemmed from speeches held at these conferences and events.

Snowden has discussed bitcoin on various occasions and the day after ‘Black Thursday’ he tweeted that it was “the first time in a while I’ve felt like buying bitcoin.” At the time, BTC’s price plummeted to a low of $3,800 per coin on March 12, 2020.

Last September, when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) first announced the lawsuit against Snowden’s book and speaking engagements, Snowden tweeted: “In conclusion, this is good for bitcoin.”

What do you think about Snowden being paid to discuss bitcoin and other digital assets? Let us know in the comments section below.

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via Jamie Redman