HRF

Good morning! Financial Freedom Report #101 is live and features the following in global news: -India | NPCI Confirms CBDC is Live With Spending Controls -Russia | New Tax Hike Deepens Financial Pressure on Households and Small Businesses -Tunisia | Top Human Rights Advocate Arrested Amid Financial Repression of Civil Society In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -DMND Pool | Full Public Launch -BULL Wallet | New Update Brings Blockstream Jade Support and Greater Privacy -bitcoin++ | Open Source Edition Announced in Kenya We include an episode of What Bitcoin Did, where Bitcoin educator Ben Perrin (BTC Sessions) explains what secure Bitcoin self-custody looks like. View Article →

Good morning, friends! Today, we celebrate 100 editions of HRF's Financial Freedom Report. What started as an effort to track how authoritarian regimes use money as a tool of repression has evolved into THE weekly newsletter covering the global state of financial freedom. From frozen bank accounts, currency collapse, and CBDCs to resisting with Bitcoin and freedom tech, we are grateful to all our readers who have joined us on this journey. Onward to the next 100! View Article →

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! This week's Financial Freedom Report #99 was just published and features the following in global news: -Belarus | Law Enforcement Empowered to Block Financial Transactions -Tunisia | Financial Repression of Human Rights Organizations -United Arab Emirates | New Law Passed to Regulate Self-Custody Tools In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Blue Wallet | Lightning Network Support Added via Arkade -Bitcoin | Home Miner Finds Solo Block -BULL Wallet | Support for Krux Added We end with a narrated edition of Alex Gladstein’s Journal of Democracy essay “Why Bitcoin is Freedom Money,” where Guy Swann guides listeners through how financial repression has become a core tool of modern authoritarianism and why Bitcoin is emerging as a lifeline for those targeted. View Article →

Good evening, friends! This week's Financial Freedom Report #98 is live and features the following in global news: -Indonesia | Government Plans Rupiah Redenomination Bill -Tanzania | Bitcoin Becomes a Bridge During Internet Blackout -United Arab Emirates | First CBDC Transaction Completed In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -BULL Wallet | SeedSigner Support Added -Lightning Dev Kit | Splicing and Asynchronous Payments Added -Breez | Spark Supports Privacy Mode and Nostr Zaps We end with the latest installment of the HRF x PubKey Freedom Tech Series, where HRF’s Femi Longe and Christian Keroles explain how the Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) helps sustain the global builders creating the permissionless and privacy-preserving tools on which dissidents increasingly depend. View Article →

Good afternoon, friends! This week's Financial Freedom Report #97 is live and features the following in global news: -Pakistan | Financial Targeting of Journalists -North Korea | Police Detain Informal Currency Changers -Kuwait | Bank Accounts of Stateless Residents Frozen In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Fedi | Anyone Can Start a Federation -Machankura | Fully Self-Custodial Wallet in Test Phase -Lightspark | Introduces Lightspark Grid Plus, we end with an article from journalist Frank Corva, underscoring Bitcoin’s neutrality and its role as a universal human rights technology. View Article →

Good morning, readers! This week's Financial Freedom Report #96 is published and features the following global strories: -Cuba | Independent Media Outlet Blamed for Inflation -Indonesia | Central Bank Expands Oversight with New CBDC-Linked Stablecoin -Tanzania | Internet Blackout and Curfew Follow Unfree and Unfair Elections In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Phoenix | Phoenix Wallet Launches Taproot Channels and Multi-Wallet Support -Bitkey | Introduces Chain Code Delegation for Enhanced Privacy -Cashu | Update Adds Mint Discovery and Web-of-Trust Ratings We end with a new episode of the “What Bitcoin Did” podcast, where HRF’s Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein explains how Bitcoin protects civil society from dictators who devalue currencies, freeze bank accounts, monitor financial activity, and employ myriad other forms of financial repression. View Article →

Good morning, friends! This week's Financial Freedom Report #94 is live and features the following in global news: -Venezuela | Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to María Corina Machado -Russia | Putin Signs Amendments to Foreign Agent Law -Kenya | Virtual Asset Service Providers Law Passed In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Square | Bitcoin Payments Introduced -BULL Wallet | Open-Source Wallet with Payjoin Privacy Tool -Signal | Proof of Concept for Cashu Ecash Integration We end with a podcast episode where Ledn co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo shares how Bitcoin became his family’s lifeline amid Venezuela’s economic collapse. View Article → View Article →

Good morning, nostr! This week's Financial Freedom Report #93 is live and features the following in global news: -China | Opens International Operations Center for Digital Yuan -Nicaragua | Human Rights Guarantees Eliminated -World | SWIFT Eyes Blockchain Payment System Overhaul In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Sparrow Wallet | Implements Send to Silent Payments -Breez | Shares Q3 Lightning Integrations -Bitcoin Babies | Releases “The Sovereign Mother” Book We end with an essay from HRF’s chief strategy officer, Alex Gladstein, who explains in the Journal of Democracy why Bitcoin is best thought of as freedom money. He traces how governments have used modern financial systems to surveil and repress, and how Bitcoin provides an alternative. View Article →

Good morning, friends! This week's Financial Freedom Report #92 is now published and features the following in global news: -North Korea | Automated Banking Hotline Deepens Surveillance -Russia | Amends Foreign Agent Law with Tougher Penalties -Togo | Digital Protests Against Gnassingbé Dictatorship In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Research | Daniela Brozzoni Analyzes Bitcoin Node Fee Filter Settings -Cashu | Draft Proposal Adds Oblivious HTTP for Stronger Privacy -Layerz Wallet | New Bitcoin Wallet with Multi-Layer Support We end with a chilling dispatch from Russian independent media outlet Meduza, which collected testimonies where Russians describe daily life on the Kremlin’s new “whitelist” Internet, which allows access only to state-approved sites. View Article →

Good morning, friends! This week's Financial Freedom Report #91 is now published and features the following in global news: -Vietnam | Millions of Bank Accounts Deleted -El Salvador | New Banking Law Amid Democratic Backslide -Cuba | Integrates into Chinese Payment System and Represses Protests In #Bitcoin and Freedom Tech News: -Swapso | Integrates Lightning and Liquid Networks with Breez SDK -Alby | Testing Spark Wallet Integration -Cashu Development Kit | Introduces FFI Bindings for Interoperability We end with an article in Journal of Democracy, where University of Chicago professor Paul Staniland examines how mass protests have toppled governments in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka in the past three years. View Article →