bitcoin has won over some of america's
best-known billionaires and institutions
worldwide are treating it as a serious
financial asset
but price is only one part of the story
whether they know it or not
people who buy bitcoin are strengthening
a tool for protecting human rights
this still relatively new form of
electronic money is censorship resistant
seizure resistant borderless
permissionless pseudonymous
programmable and peer-to-peer in bitcoin
transactions don't go through banks or
financial intermediaries
they travel directly from one person to
another payment processing is done not
by a regulated company like visa or
mastercard but by a decentralized global
software network
storage is handled not by a bank but by
the users themselves
bitcoin issuance isn't determined by
central bankers the currency's creator
satoshi nakamoto
said it to have an ultimate limit of 21
million no one can ever print more
bitcoin transactions can't be stopped
and you don't need to reveal your name
or address or telephone number to
participate
you just need internet access in 2017
the economist paul krugman described
bitcoin as
some fancy technological thing that
nobody really understands
there's been no demonstration yet that
it actually is helpful in conducting
economic transactions
there's no anchor for its value krugman
lives in a sheltered environment in a
liberal democracy with constitutional
protections
his native currency is globally dominant
and relatively stable
it's easy for him to open a bank account
to use a mobile app to pay bills
or to grow his wealth by investing in
real estate or stocks
but most people don't have the same
privilege 4.2 billion live under
authoritarian regimes that use money as
a tool for surveillance and state
control
their currency is often debased and they
are for the most part cut off from the
international system that krugman enjoys
for them saving and transacting outside
the government's purview isn't shady
business
it's a way to preserve their freedoms in
china if you type or utter one wrong
word
the communist party might eliminate your
financial services this devastating
outcome creates a chilling effect for
dissidents and creative minds who are
forced to use the country's increasingly
centralized digital economy
in hong kong or russia donors to human
rights organizations can get their bank
account suspended and funds
seized over the past few months in
belarus and nigeria nationwide protests
have broken out against tyranny and
corruption
in both places activists raising money
to support the democracy movement have
had their bank accounts frozen
and as we saw in burma just a few days
ago the military shut down the banking
system during their latest coup
and turned off the atms for activists
living under state repression
bitcoin provides a way to preserve their
money in cyberspace locked away by
encryption
safe from devaluation in a network that
has never been hacked
for them its digital cash and digital
gold rolled into one
and in cuba nigeria china pakistan
venezuela
russia turkey argentina palestine
zimbabwe and elsewhere
bitcoin is catching on and helping
people escape tyranny and currency
collapse
in the past few months belarusian
activists have used bitcoin to defy the
regime by sending more than three
million dollars of unstoppable money
directly to striking workers who then
convert it locally to rubles in
peer-to-peer marketplaces to feed their
families as they protest the country's
dictatorship
in october a feminist coalition in
nigeria raised the equivalent of tens of
thousands of dollars in bitcoin to buy
gas masks and protest equipment as
activist bank accounts were being turned
on and off
in russia the politician and activist
alexei navalny has raised millions in
bitcoin in opposition to vladimir putin
who has strict control over the
traditional
financial system putin can do a lot of
things but he can't freeze a bitcoin
account
in iran and palestine and cuba citizens
are increasingly able to escape foreign
restrictions on their financial rights
thanks to bitcoin in these places
individuals are dealing with sanctions
or embargoes placed on them because of
the misdeeds of their corrupt rulers
bitcoin gives them a lifeline for
earning income or receiving remittances
from abroad
some venezuelans having watched their
country's currency evaporate due to
hyperinflation
are converting their time and energy and
family resources to bitcoin's digital
format and then escaping
with their savings secured by a password
that can be stored on a flash drive
phone or even memorized they've started
new lives in other countries taking
advantage of a technology that refugees
throughout history could only dream
about
the citizens of democracies also face
financial controls d-platforming and an
ever-expanding surveillance state
but those lucky enough to live in open
societies can vote sue
protest and write and those methods
might allow them to protect their
financial freedom and privacy
the billions who live under
authoritarian governments don't have the
same options
unlike democracy bitcoin is universally
available
you don't need to have a particular
passport or bank card or voting status
to use it
no government can turn off your bitcoin
if it's threatened by your ideas
we are in the middle of a great digital
transformation a time when cash one of
the last bastions of privacy and freedom
is disappearing people are increasingly
relying on easily surveilled apps like
apple pay
alipay and perhaps soon central bank
digital currencies
as their primary medium of exchange
bitcoin provides an alternative to our
increasingly centralized financial
system
it gives any activist or journalist a
way to raise funds without censorship
a way to save despite the corrosive
impact of excessive money printing
and a way to teleport value without
permission bitcoin wasn't as powerful
five years ago before it had global
liquidity
but today exchanges have popped up in
every region daily trading volume
exceeds that of popular stocks like
apple
and peer-to-peer marketplaces like
paxful and local bitcoins have extended
their reach
enabling users to sell bitcoin for local
currency almost anywhere in the world
maybe you don't need bitcoin and maybe
you don't understand bitcoin and maybe
paypal venmo or your bank account serve
your needs just fine
but don't write off bitcoin is simply a
vehicle for financial speculation
for millions of people around the world
it's an escape hatch from tyranny and
nothing less than freedom
money