FBI investigating foreign bitcoin payments moving to alt-right before Capitol riot: report

As conservative extremists have been pushed off of major networks, they have increasing turned to bitcoin as a way to receive money. This trend intensified greatly around the fatal 2017 "Unite the Right" rally that terrorized Charlottesville, Virginia.

Some bitcoin payments may reveal the sources of funding for the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

"The FBI is investigating whether foreign governments, organizations or individuals provided financial support to extremists who helped plan and execute the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, one current and one former FBI official told NBC News. As part of the investigation, the bureau is examining payments of $500,000 in bitcoin, apparently by a French national, to key figures and groups in the alt-right before the riot, the sources said. Those payments were documented and posted on the web this week by a company that analyzes cryptocurrency transfers. Payments of bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, can be traced because they are documented on a public ledger," NBC News correspondent Ken Dilanian reported Saturday.

"On Dec. 8, Chainalysis reported, the donor sent 28.15 BTC — worth about $522,000 at the time of transfer — to 22 separate addresses, many of which belong to far-right activists," NBC News reported. "The Chainalysis blog post, first highlighted by Yahoo News, said far-right podcaster Nick Fuentes received the most money, 13.5 BTC — worth approximately $250,000."