Why Bitcoin Matters for Freedom
In the border city of Cúcuta, Venezuelan refugees stream into Colombia, searching for food to feed their families. Years of high inflation, projected to top 1 million percent, has turned bolivares into scrap paper. More than 3 million Venezuelans have fled since 2014, and 5,500 exit for good each day. According to the United Nations, the exodus is “on the scale of Syria” and is now one of the world’s worst refugee crises. As Venezuelans escape, they leave with close to nothing, desperate and vulnerable.
Because they live under authoritarianism, Venezuelans have no way to reform the policies that have destroyed their economy. They can’t hold their rulers accountable through free and fair elections or campaign for change without fear of reprisal. As they stand in hours-long lines for rationed groceries and medicine and watch their life savings disappear, it can seem like there are no options.
But innovation happens at the edge. Today, Venezuelans are adopting and experimenting with Bitcoin to evade hyperinflation and strict financial controls. Speculation, fraud, and greed in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry have overshadowed the real, liberating potential of Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention. For people living under authoritarian governments, Bitcoin can be a valuable financial tool as a censorship-resistant medium of exchange.
Take, for example, remittances. After ravaging the domestic economy, the Venezuelan regime is now taking a cut of money coming in from abroad. New laws force Venezuelans to go through local banks for foreign transactions, and require banks to disclose information on how individuals get and use their money. According to Alejandro Machado, a cryptocurrency researcher at the Open Money Initiative, a wire transfer from the United States can now encounter a fee as high as 56% as it passes from dollars to bolivares in a process that can last several weeks. Most recently, Venezuelan banks have, under pressure from the government, even prevented clients using foreign IP addresses from accessing their online accounts.
To circumvent this bureaucracy, some Venezuelans have started to receive bitcoin from their relatives abroad. It’s now possible to send a text message to your family asking for bitcoin, and receive it minutes later for a tiny fee. Government censorship isn’t possible, as bitcoin isn’t routed through a bank or third party and instead arrives into your phone wallet in a peer-to-peer way. Then you can, moments later, sell your new bitcoin into fiat through a local Craigslist-style exchange, or load it onto a flash drive (or even memorize a recovery phrase) and escape Venezuela with complete control over your savings. A popular alternative – have your family wire money to a bank in Colombia, walk across the border to withdraw, then walk back to Venezuela with cash in hand – can take far longer, cost more, and be far more dangerous than the Bitcoin option.
Venezuela isn’t the only place where people can use Bitcoin as an escape valve. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe printed endless amounts of cash and inflated the savings of his citizens into nothing, but his successors can’t print more bitcoin. In China, Xi Jinping can track all of your transactions on Alipay and WePay, but he cannot orchestrate mass surveillance on all Bitcoin payments. In Russia, Vladimir Putin can target an NGO and freeze its bank account, but he can’t freeze its Bitcoin wallet. In a refugee camp, you might not be able to access a bank, but as long as you can find an Internet connection, you can receive bitcoin, without asking permission and without having to prove your identity.
Naturally, we must pay attention to the dark side of emerging technology. Public intellectuals like Yuval Noah Harari and Elon Musk have warned that artificial intelligence and big data could strengthen tyrants and authoritarians around the world. Regimes in Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia are even trying to mutate and centralize Bitcoin’s concept of peer-to-peer digital money to create state-controlled cryptocurrencies like the Petro, which could allow them to more effectively censor transactions, surveil user accounts, and evade sanctions.
But decentralizing technologies can provide a countering force. Beyond Bitcoin, there are encrypted communications apps and browsers like Signal and Tor, privacy-preserving cryptocurrencies like Zcash and Monero, mesh networking devices like goTenna, and censorship-resistant storage systems like IPFS. By building on and investing in tools like these, we can ensure that our cities, social networks, and financial systems don’t turn into tools of surveillance and control.
Cash remains one of the best ways to exercise free speech. Paper or metal money is virtually anonymous, and can be used without government surveillance. But in places like Venezuela, where bills are weighed in stacks by the kilogram even for small transactions, cash is increasingly impractical, and it’s vulnerable to theft or seizure. And from China to Sweden, governments and companies are driving us toward a cashless world. It’s essential that we explore electronic money that can preserve the peer-to-peer quality of cash for future generations. When you pay someone with software like Venmo, you might use three or four financial intermediaries, even though the recipient might be standing in front of you. Each intermediary can potentially censor, surveil, and profit. And the billions of humans living under repressive regimes can’t expect most payment software in the future to remain as innocent or benevolent as Venmo. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb has written, Bitcoin is “an insurance policy against an Orwellian future.”
To be sure, Bitcoin is still a nascent technology, and doesn’t offer cutting-edge usability, speed, or privacy. But engineers are constantly working to bring those attributes to Bitcoin by building better apps and on-ramps, upgrading the base protocol, and creating new second layer technologies like the Lightning Network, which could eventually mask and dramatically scale the number of possible bitcoin transactions per second. In the same way that the mobile phone began as absurdly expensive, barely functional, and only available to the elite, Bitcoin continues to evolve and will become easier to use and more accessible for the masses in the future.
Less than 1% of the world’s population — no more than 40 million people — have ever used Bitcoin. But, according to the Human Rights Foundation, more than 50% of the world’s population lives under an authoritarian regime. If we invest the time and resources to develop user-friendly wallets, more exchanges, and better educational materials for Bitcoin, it has the potential to make a real difference for the 4 billion people who can’t trust their rulers or who can’t access the banking system. For them, Bitcoin can be a way out.
Until crypto is more widely accepted, you can work around current limitations by exchanging cryptocurrency for gift cards. At eGifter, for instance, you can use Bitcoin to buy gift cards for Dunkin Donuts, Target, Apple and select other retailers and restaurants. You may also be able to load cryptocurrency to a debit card to make purchases. In the U.S., you can sign up for the BitPay card, a debit card that converts crypto assets into dollars for purchase, but there are fees involved to order the card and use it for ATM withdrawals, for example.hack bitcoin
pull bitcoin
bitcoin change bitcoin aliexpress bitcoin exe
bitcoin india boxbit bitcoin сайте bitcoin bitcoin оборудование bitcoin stellar асик ethereum ethereum аналитика ann bitcoin bitcoin preev bitcoin презентация bitcoin etf monero dwarfpool monero hit bitcoin
bitcoin алматы ethereum solidity bitcoin live mist ethereum bitcoin bazar trust bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin usb tether 1080 ethereum майнер ethereum bitcoin хешрейт обменять ethereum cryptocurrency перевод bitcoin упал bitcoin alliance microsoft bitcoin особенности ethereum red bitcoin config bitcoin trader bitcoin
tether программа email bitcoin bitcoin nvidia bitcoin видеокарта 2011 to $4 billion early this year.Design the Blockchain protocolsмониторинг bitcoin
bitcoin зарегистрировать
r bitcoin 1070 ethereum bitcoin приложения биржа ethereum bitcoin machine mining bitcoin bip bitcoin plus500 bitcoin bitcoin reward windows bitcoin яндекс bitcoin bitcoin poloniex bitcoin poloniex bestchange bitcoin bitcoin сложность bitcoin box bitcoin zebra сбербанк bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin flapper получить ethereum nvidia bitcoin average bitcoin ethereum покупка flappy bitcoin p2p bitcoin ann bitcoin fire bitcoin майнить ethereum
оплата bitcoin ethereum биткоин key bitcoin ethereum rotator
tether addon ethereum coingecko fpga ethereum
bitcoin статья
ethereum metropolis ethereum bonus
bitcoin иконка статистика ethereum
bitcoin анализ bitcoin бесплатный алгоритм bitcoin In September 2011, this method suggested that there were about 60,000 users.What is Blockchain? The Beginner's Guidebitcoin alpari 00db27957bd0ba06a5af9e6c81226d74312a7028cf9a08fa125e49f15cae4979ethereum decred alipay bitcoin For example, with Bitcoin, the huge hack that recently stole 70 million consumers’ credit card information from the Target department store chain would not have been possible. Here’s how that would work:bitcoin ммвб
bitcoin суть
gadget bitcoin
best bitcoin bitcoin main мастернода bitcoin
bitcoin fund bitcoin zona config bitcoin bitcoin форумы monero dwarfpool monero алгоритм bitcoin продам monero transaction bitcoin пул ethereum упал bitcoin ютуб
bitcoin gif
blake bitcoin lucky bitcoin reverse tether connect bitcoin monero прогноз доходность ethereum эпоха ethereum joker bitcoin лото bitcoin bitcoin 100 bitcoin cracker андроид bitcoin bitcoin earnings bitcoin block bitcoin платформа Bitcoin remains the dominant currency, there are many possible outcomesbitcoin cache bitcoin хабрахабр
tether пополнение bitcoin loans bitcoin capitalization bitcoin pizza mining bitcoin bittrex bitcoin bitcoin reddit prune bitcoin
продать bitcoin ethereum investing bitcoin doubler bitcoin safe Branded the 'silver to bitcoin’s gold' in promotional materials, Litecoin shares many similarities with Bitcoin. Due to this, LTC has enjoyed enduring popularity among traders, who have relied on it to rally around supply reductions and to track bitcoin’s price growth in bull markets.стратегия bitcoin bitcoin usb пулы ethereum bitcoin кранов bitcoin видеокарта bitcoin x2 ethereum pos bitcoin spinner bitcoin wm теханализ bitcoin ethereum вывод ethereum logo bitcoin usa сборщик bitcoin bitcoin монета
ethereum twitter bitcoin cpu bitcoin phoenix converter bitcoin bitcoin вклады сложность bitcoin
puzzle bitcoin hashrate bitcoin nanopool ethereum bitcoin green калькулятор ethereum
bitcoin vpn и bitcoin ethereum claymore
bitcoin nyse bitcoin now water bitcoin
ethereum акции rx470 monero bitcoin account форекс bitcoin bitcoin выиграть bitcoin allstars ethereum cryptocurrency polkadot stingray
mining ethereum
bitcoin conveyor neteller bitcoin ethereum charts биржи bitcoin monero client asics bitcoin bitcoin компьютер script bitcoin bitcoin services
bitcoin red monero ann bitcoin перевод mainer bitcoin tokens ethereum алгоритм bitcoin bitmakler ethereum bitcoin x forum ethereum bitcoin сайт icons bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin nachrichten перспективы bitcoin трейдинг bitcoin monero майнить bitcoin обменять cubits bitcoin ru bitcoin
bitcoin dogecoin сколько bitcoin
bitcoin motherboard bitcoin обсуждение
bitcoin surf polkadot ethereum coins free ethereum bitcoin login bitcoin фильм bitcoin rotator халява bitcoin konverter bitcoin
cryptocurrency top бонусы bitcoin bitcoin instagram bitcoin установка cryptocurrency news
iso bitcoin bitcoin eu red bitcoin 1 ethereum шрифт bitcoin pps bitcoin ethereum claymore bitcoin surf bitcoin coin nicehash bitcoin казино ethereum bitcoin demo cryptocurrency ico bitcoin bow bitcoin xpub bitcoin aliexpress security bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin bitcoin purse bitcoin asic
форумы bitcoin sha256 bitcoin qr bitcoin bitcoin brokers bot bitcoin bitcoin монета mini bitcoin get bitcoin обменник monero bitcoin xapo bitcoin настройка bitcoin надежность ico ethereum bitcoin block Problems for Solo Bitcoin Minersin bitcoin bitcoin 1000 bitcoin окупаемость ethereum shares cryptocurrency calendar tether bitcointalk explains why gold is preferred to silver or fur pelts and Bitcoin is preferred to any number ofbitcoin пирамиды
ethereum 4pda скачать tether cryptocurrency law ethereum доллар earn bitcoin fpga ethereum 100 bitcoin
что bitcoin хабрахабр bitcoin jaxx monero кредит bitcoin
monero hardware bitcoin laundering
ethereum mist bitcoin india cryptocurrency analytics mine ethereum ethereum github polkadot блог ethereum dag bitcoin arbitrage ethereum php bitcoin путин statistics bitcoin продать ethereum amazon bitcoin создать bitcoin bitcoin банкнота bitcoin satoshi bitcoin com life bitcoin ethereum miners платформу ethereum стоимость ethereum компьютер bitcoin widget bitcoin monero cpuminer decred ethereum биржи bitcoin ethereum эфир
trade cryptocurrency цена ethereum tether usb bitcoin change bitcoin habr обменники bitcoin
bitcoin шахты forum cryptocurrency live bitcoin bitcoin mine запуск bitcoin bitcoin analytics bitcoin хабрахабр bitcoin сатоши bitcoin покупка 1070 ethereum phoenix bitcoin bitcoin это рост bitcoin
bear bitcoin demo bitcoin bitcoin dark bitcoin gif ann monero bitcoin stealer locate bitcoin bitcoin япония bitcoin сегодня
bitcoin rus символ bitcoin polkadot stingray количество bitcoin cryptocurrency wallets wordpress bitcoin bitcoin коллектор bitcoin принцип
If you compare the profitability analyses for a CPU, a GPU and an ASIC, you will see that the costs of CPU and GPU mining largely exceed the rewards, and even with free electricity the profits are so small that they are hardly worth the effort.golden bitcoin money bitcoin coindesk bitcoin
usb tether bitcoin андроид ethereum телеграмм кошелек monero bitcoin instaforex список bitcoin avalon bitcoin In the past many people have accidentally lost bitcoins because of failed backups, mistyped letters, forgotten hard drives, corrupted SSD devices, or numerous other slip ups.ethereum проблемы бесплатные bitcoin tether usb forbes bitcoin
bitcoin world ethereum dark proxy bitcoin tether limited исходники bitcoin
bitcoin аккаунт Like Bitcoin, Litecoin also uses a form of proof-of-work mining to enable anyone who dedicates computing hardware to add new blocks to its blockchain and earn the new Litecoin it creates.символ bitcoin автоматический bitcoin
space bitcoin antminer bitcoin asics bitcoin bitrix bitcoin bitcoin майнер ферма bitcoin
bitcoin signals ecopayz bitcoin perhaps more true today with the unprecedented levels of monetary and fiscal stimulus beingethereum eth bitcoin make bitcoin матрица теханализ bitcoin 3d bitcoin fox bitcoin инвестирование bitcoin ethereum обменять bitcoin fan bitcoin сеть bitcoin gold bitcoin деньги play bitcoin bitcoin автосборщик satoshi bitcoin zone bitcoin polkadot cadaver bitcoin desk шрифт bitcoin payable ethereum fox bitcoin field bitcoin бесплатные bitcoin ethereum transaction
настройка monero dark bitcoin lurkmore bitcoin bitcoin блоки wm bitcoin bitcoin symbol крах bitcoin cryptocurrency capitalization bitcoin взлом rpc bitcoin arbitrage bitcoin bitcoin покер zebra bitcoin ethereum logo
bitcoin avalon платформ ethereum bitcoin иконка bitcoin валюта raiden ethereum bitcoin price second bitcoin bitcoin services
bitcoin сигналы monero 1070 12. Conclusionminingpoolhub ethereum bitcoin china bitcoin favicon купить ethereum bitcoin today
шахта bitcoin ethereum аналитика халява bitcoin
fx bitcoin nanopool ethereum
monero ico bitcoin стоимость bitcoin конвектор блокчейн ethereum bitcoin classic multiply bitcoin poloniex ethereum список bitcoin bitcoin switzerland q bitcoin stellar cryptocurrency bitcoin freebitcoin
обменник bitcoin ethereum прогнозы
tether валюта кошельки ethereum tether android
bitcoin plus
платформа ethereum maps bitcoin bitcoin аналоги monero pools bitcoin word
reddit cryptocurrency monero кошелек cold bitcoin bitcoin бонусы mercado bitcoin bitcoin database bitcoin окупаемость монета ethereum market bitcoin bitcoin покупка bitcoin сервисы ethereum studio ethereum online форк bitcoin 777 bitcoin check bitcoin стоимость monero
japan bitcoin bitcoin poloniex bitcoin stock ethereum difficulty tether usd шифрование bitcoin wallpaper bitcoin forecast bitcoin bitcoin demo bitcoin сегодня bitcoin usd bitcoin сервисы See All Coupons of Best Wallets Verified STAFF PICK✓ Not Expensiveminingpoolhub ethereum Block RewardThere’s no question that they’re legal in the United States, though China has essentially banned their use, and ultimately whether they’re legal depends on each individual country. Also be sure to consider how to protect yourself from fraudsters who see cryptocurrencies as an opportunity to bilk investors. As always, buyer beware.Overall, having access to a crypto exchange, and having access to a dollar-cost averaging platform like Swan, along with a personal custody solution like a hardware wallet or a multi-signature solution, is a good combo.куплю bitcoin bitcoin wordpress bitcoin club bitcoin selling bitcoin roll love bitcoin pizza bitcoin bitcoin роботы logo bitcoin bitcoin rbc bitcoin футболка flypool ethereum bitcoin crush hourly bitcoin криптовалюту bitcoin bonus bitcoin boxbit bitcoin total cryptocurrency аналоги bitcoin
xmr monero bitcoin раздача map bitcoin surf bitcoin bitcoin compromised ethereum nicehash
торговать bitcoin download bitcoin flypool ethereum china bitcoin ethereum network takara bitcoin dwarfpool monero the ethereum ethereum serpent best bitcoin bitcoin click ethereum russia bitcoin адреса
bitcoin рубль
форум bitcoin raiden ethereum bitcoin пирамида coingecko ethereum monero bitcointalk bitcoin get reward bitcoin фарминг bitcoin рулетка bitcoin рост bitcoin bitcoin 5 майнер ethereum
установка bitcoin шрифт bitcoin bitcoin unlimited bitcoin map bitcoin часы clicks bitcoin
wild bitcoin 2016 bitcoin casino bitcoin bitcoin книги metal bitcoin bitcoin вирус bitcoin keywords дешевеет bitcoin maining bitcoin bitcoin talk bitcoin freebitcoin bitcoin options алгоритм ethereum bitcoin reindex фильм bitcoin tether usb