Human Rights Foundation: Bitcoin “fixes democracy” and “fights corruption.”
According to Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer of the Human Rights Fund, Bitcoin represents free expression, property rights, and open capital markets, suffocating the power of authoritarian governments.
Bitcoin, according to Bitcoin enthusiast and Human Rights Fund chief strategy officer Alex Gladstein, repairs damaged democracies and combats government corruption by limiting the government’s ability to control its people.
Gladstein stated in a Feb. 20 interview that Bitcoin’s decentralised character can operate as a barrier against corruption and dictatorship.
“Where democracies have broken down, I believe it is very clearly tied to fiat currency, and I believe Bitcoin fixes this in certain ways,” he remarked.
Gladstein has been the nonprofit organization’s chief strategy officer since 2007. The foundation’s mission is to promote and safeguard human rights around the world, particularly in nations where people live “under authoritarian government.”
According to his bio, Gladstein also gives lectures on Bitcoin and the future of money at Singularity University events.
During the interview, Gladstein stated that Bitcoin represents free speech, property rights, and open financial markets, all of which are suffocating to a totalitarian government, which frequently requires censorship, expropriation, and closed capital markets. He stated, ” This is what China and Russia need to survive they need censorship, they need close capital markets and they need confiscation; Bitcoin makes it really hard for governments to impose those things on their people.”
Both Russia and China have previously been opposed to cryptocurrency. In 2021, the Chinese government will outlaw practically all cryptocurrency transactions. Yet, the impending Hong Kong crypto licencing regime has fueled conjecture that China’s attitude on crypto is easing.
In 2020, Russia’s primary crypto law, “On Digital Financial Assets,” will officially restrict the usage of cryptocurrency for payment purposes. Although the legislation does not prohibit Russians from investing in cryptocurrency, local crypto exchanges remain uncontrolled.
“I don’t see authoritarian governments doing well under a Bitcoin standard; I think it becomes quite difficult for them,” Gladstein remarked.
Gladstein’s point about cryptocurrency has been voiced by others in the past. In a 2021 article, Bitcoin infrastructure company OpenNode expressed similar sentiments about the value of BTC donations in avoiding official crackdowns.
“One of the benefits of Bitcoin is its resistance to censorship,” OpenNode noted at the time.
“Without any central authority to dictate who can and can’t use Bitcoin, it has proven to be the currency of choice for many individuals and organizations who have been left out of traditional payment methods.”
One of the main motivations for embracing blockchain-based fundraising, according to a February 2022 analysis by blockchain analytics startup Elliptic, was to avoid traditional accounts being shuttered by financial institutions.
Gladstein anticipates that there will be many more “trigger moments” in the coming years when consumers have “technical and liquidity difficulties with traditional financial services,” resulting in more people turning to Bitcoin as an alternative.
“If there’s a conflict or a breakdown in trade or communications, you’re just going to see a whole lot of difficulties, and every single one of those is going to mint a new Bitcoiner out of need,” he said.