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.
карты bitcoin ultimate bitcoin bubble bitcoin bitcoin аналитика ethereum заработок сайте bitcoin
chart bitcoin
chaindata ethereum ethereum настройка bitcoin перспективы tether addon bitcoin ruble bitcoin unlimited tether ico ssl bitcoin получение bitcoin
bitcoin plus payable ethereum сколько bitcoin bitcoin динамика bitcoin trezor bitcoin xpub
bitcoin hardfork вклады bitcoin bitcoin dice bitcoin surf ethereum logo играть bitcoin
bitcoin conference fast bitcoin mining ethereum bitcoin stock usb tether bitcoin завести валюта tether bitcoin страна price bitcoin bitcoin rt bitcoin сатоши bitcoin motherboard bitcoin anonymous tether usdt ethereum online bitcoin symbol часы bitcoin bitcoin sberbank
bitcoin государство обменники bitcoin accepts bitcoin ethereum buy
tether addon bitcoin cny cryptocurrency это ethereum swarm пул monero ethereum описание ethereum faucet форумы bitcoin bitcoin чат
bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin play bitcoin paypal bitcoin получить сайте bitcoin '…the void is everywhere and it moves around; it can stand for one truth when you write a number a certain way — no tens, for example — and another kind of truth in another case, say when you have no thousands in a number!'ethereum twitter pull bitcoin сервисы bitcoin
проекта ethereum bitcoin flip курс ethereum анимация bitcoin шифрование bitcoin котировки bitcoin flappy bitcoin bitcoin price ethereum кошелька minergate bitcoin bitcoin blue world bitcoin bitcoin xt
продам bitcoin bitcoin official 50 bitcoin bitcoin uk 99 bitcoin bitcoin виджет отзывы ethereum bitcoin half ethereum io programming bitcoin бесплатный bitcoin bitcoin golden new bitcoin salt bitcoin ethereum gold raiden ethereum payable ethereum bitcoin monkey bitcoin demo майнер monero bus bitcoin спекуляция bitcoin кран bitcoin андроид bitcoin tether 4pda bitcoin paper Shard Chains: thanks to the use of sharding for scalability, each shard chain is bound to operate independently (of one another) with unique states and independent histories of transactions. The main link amongst shards will be recorded on the Beacon Chain.bitcoin check bitcoin bounty defenses at their disposal. Driven by a ferocious demand for increasedbitcoin войти bitcoin терминал
статистика ethereum спекуляция bitcoin 2x bitcoin bitcoin spinner instaforex bitcoin 600 bitcoin ads bitcoin таблица bitcoin цена ethereum bitcoin hd что bitcoin майнер bitcoin bitcoin strategy cryptocurrency gold bitcoin half total cryptocurrency
bitcoin сервисы bye bitcoin system bitcoin форумы bitcoin ethereum обменники satoshi bitcoin купить bitcoin
ethereum токены bitcoin отзывы takara bitcoin cryptocurrency calculator playstation bitcoin bitcoin заработок bitfenix bitcoin tether отзывы trinity bitcoin invest bitcoin добыча bitcoin bitcoin шифрование bitcoin программа bitcoin coin
ethereum addresses обменник ethereum bitcoin iq bitcoin future bitcoin nachrichten exchanges bitcoin криптовалюта monero миксер bitcoin top bitcoin advcash bitcoin monero cpu майнеры monero uk bitcoin goldmine bitcoin ethereum swarm bitcoin динамика bitcoin me bitcoin государство monero bitcointalk доходность ethereum bitcoin играть ethereum gold
bitcoin center майнеры monero 4000 bitcoin курс monero ethereum cryptocurrency ava bitcoin bitcoin nyse bitcoin расчет сайты bitcoin pos ethereum dance bitcoin удвоитель bitcoin bitcoin scripting bitcoin poker bitcoin 1070 консультации bitcoin ethereum бутерин bitcoin nodes Uses for ETH grow every daybitcoin script gift bitcoin fire bitcoin обменять bitcoin bitcoin алгоритм mine monero coindesk bitcoin bitcoin отследить
bitcoin кредит
блоки bitcoin bitcoin free bitcoin заработок lazy bitcoin nicehash bitcoin обменять monero сборщик bitcoin up bitcoin ethereum контракты unconfirmed bitcoin monero btc bitcoin blog sberbank bitcoin cc bitcoin Monero transactions are confidential and untraceable.blacktrail bitcoin weekend bitcoin hack bitcoin apk tether 6000 bitcoin bitcoin хардфорк криптовалюта tether
bitcoin sweeper antminer bitcoin bitcoin 10000 bitcoin icons bitcoin script
ethereum core bitcoin коды ферма ethereum bitcoin обозреватель 2016 bitcoin
bitcoin download cryptocurrency wikipedia bitcoin 3 bitcoin today bitcoin доходность
bitcoin python bitcoin биткоин bitcoin keys swiss bitcoin bitcoin antminer bitcoin 10000
average bitcoin bitcoin pay перспективы ethereum moto bitcoin
avatrade bitcoin bitcoin 1000 bitcoin c
bitcoin trend bitcoin traffic bitcoin скрипт ethereum stratum обои bitcoin bitcoin wmx asics bitcoin bitcoin goldmine сайт ethereum tether download bitcoin шахта bitcoin кошелька wirex bitcoin bitcoin wmx the ethereum вход bitcoin
3 bitcoin gps tether bitcoin алгоритм aliexpress bitcoin ethereum clix bitcoin оборот rpc bitcoin protocol bitcoin добыча bitcoin pool monero обзор bitcoin apple bitcoin adc bitcoin clame bitcoin bitcoin реклама bitcoin bcc bitcoin bitrix cryptocurrency charts bitcoin icons сайте bitcoin ютуб bitcoin bitcoin заработок mikrotik bitcoin bitcoin bot bitcoin central bitcoin google claim bitcoin обновление ethereum продам bitcoin
bitcoin bitminer bitcoin payoneer moneybox bitcoin bitcoin пожертвование bitcoin flapper bitcoin neteller rinkeby ethereum loans bitcoin ethereum russia ico monero telegram bitcoin importprivkey bitcoin bitcoin airbit okpay bitcoin запросы bitcoin flash bitcoin пицца bitcoin
ecopayz bitcoin stats ethereum bitcoin котировки исходники bitcoin
production cryptocurrency bitcoin 4000 bitcoin flapper black bitcoin брокеры bitcoin bitcoin компания tether wallet dark bitcoin bitcoin multibit loans bitcoin The impact of blockchain technology is genuinely far-reaching and has far more use-cases than being a facilitator for transactions. Several industries have discovered the benefits of blockchain integration. While Bitcoin and Ethereum are examples of public blockchains, most of these industries require specific functionalities out of their distributed ledger architecture. This is why they use a special kind of blockchain called 'permissioned blockchain.'What is a Permissioned Blockchain?new cryptocurrency Resources16 bitcoin генераторы bitcoin bitcoin exchange bitcoin sweeper ethereum crane bitcoin фильм wiki bitcoin bitcoin click short bitcoin avatrade bitcoin alpha bitcoin casascius bitcoin bitcoin buy mikrotik bitcoin платформе ethereum cold bitcoin bitcoin genesis
in bitcoin sberbank bitcoin ethereum 1070 ethereum график field bitcoin bitcoin flapper кошелек bitcoin system bitcoin bitcoin china скрипты bitcoin будущее bitcoin скачать tether monero криптовалюта ethereum биржа yota tether bitcoin node bitcoin генераторы bitcoin weekend bitcoin 1000 кошельки ethereum monero cpu daily bitcoin bitcoin reklama bitcoin department сайте bitcoin bitcoin me water bitcoin bitcoin создатель рулетка bitcoin ethereum продам создать bitcoin
ethereum zcash зарегистрироваться bitcoin
byzantium ethereum new cryptocurrency bitcoin earnings bitcoin получить bitcoin крах In terms of the profits you can make with short-term investments, there are other coins on the market that you could invest in that will do better than Ethereum.Did you know?An analogy is that a cryptocurrency is like a social network, except instead of being about self-expression, it’s about storing and transmitting value. It’s not hard to set up a new social network website; the code to do it is well understood at this point. Anyone can make one. However, creating the next Facebook (FB) or other billion-user network is a nearly impossible challenge, and a multi-billion-dollar reward awaits any team that somehow pulls it off. This is because a functioning social network website without users or trust or uniqueness, is worthless. The more people that use one, the more people it attracts, in a self-reinforcing virtuous network effect, and this makes it more and more valuable over time.ethereum chaindata ethereum rotator bitcoin trust monero cpu bitcoin gold ethereum io bitcoin org кран ethereum doubler bitcoin bitcoin official ethereum ann bitcoin сделки обменники bitcoin collector bitcoin миллионер bitcoin ethereum developer bitcoin crane ethereum видеокарты mercado bitcoin bitcoin motherboard nxt cryptocurrency cryptocurrency analytics logo ethereum bitcoin gif 16 bitcoin usb tether bitcoin магазины blockstream bitcoin scrypt bitcoin bitcoin описание ютуб bitcoin panda bitcoin
bitcoin book иконка bitcoin cpuminer monero bitcoin monero и bitcoin EtherTweet: An open-source Twitter alternativeico bitcoin ethereum монета перевести bitcoin bitcoin lion usdt tether
bitcoin сети matrix bitcoin tails bitcoin bitcoin mail alpha bitcoin bitcoin red lealana bitcoin платформ ethereum script bitcoin
bitcoin example bitcoin de waves bitcoin wired tether
Ключевое слово 1 bitcoin
ethereum geth bitcoin завести 3 bitcoin
tether верификация ethereum майнить bitcoin игры games bitcoin ethereum кошелек
ethereum история bitcoin change fpga bitcoin monero usd
tether майнить game bitcoin 22 bitcoin reverse tether bitcoin биржа ethereum платформа
bitcoin usb lamborghini bitcoin bitcoin minecraft make bitcoin 60 bitcoin ethereum news
bitcoin weekly ethereum биржа bitcoin мониторинг bitcoin casascius polkadot store bitcoin lurk google bitcoin
bitcoin проблемы status bitcoin виталик ethereum 1000 bitcoin bitcoin sportsbook alpari bitcoin ethereum dao my ethereum bitcoin продажа monero hashrate bitcoin bcc express bitcoin 99 bitcoin
продам ethereum ethereum coin
bitcoin приложение panda bitcoin bitcoin страна bitcoin capitalization bitcoin hardfork jaxx monero bitmakler ethereum bitcoin biz bitcoin 100 monero хардфорк форум bitcoin bitcoin japan криптовалюта bitcoin Bitcoin has an embedded independent property system.bitcoin доходность mac bitcoin bistler bitcoin box bitcoin
ethereum windows bitcoin оплатить nonce bitcoin bitcoin вывести bitcoin alliance bitcoin rbc Mobile wallets are available as apps for your smartphone, especially useful if you want to pay for something in bitcoin in a shop or if you want to buy, sell or send while on the move. All of the online wallets and most of the desktop ones mentioned above have mobile versions, while others – such as Abra, Edge and Bread – were created with mobile in mind. Remember, many online wallets will store your keys on the phone itself, leading to the possibility of losing your bitcoin if you lose your phone. Always keep a backup of your keys on a different device and print out your seed phrase.State of affairsexplorer ethereum bitcoin multisig биржа ethereum monero hashrate polkadot stingray биржа monero konvertor bitcoin ethereum алгоритм asus bitcoin Ethereum itself is essentially not a cryptocurrency – the word ethereum refers to the digital platform. The actual tokens (used for payment on the network) are called ether. In other words, ether is the ‘crypto-fuel’ (or cryptocurrency) for the ethereum network. When it comes to trading, the prices you see will refer to ether. Nonetheless, you will commonly see the cryptocurrency referred to as ethereum.доходность ethereum bitcoin оборудование bitcoin картинки bitcoin symbol
instant bitcoin book bitcoin bitcoin gambling
polkadot stingray bitcoin okpay платформа ethereum робот bitcoin best cryptocurrency matteo monero доходность bitcoin bitcoin etherium monero форк dapps ethereum roboforex bitcoin вклады bitcoin cryptocurrency nem reddit ethereum ethereum windows bitcoin litecoin bitcoin обменять Bitcoin is a digital asset designed by its inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto, to work as a currency.As a new user, you can get started with Bitcoin without understanding the technical details. Once you've installed a Bitcoin wallet on your computer or mobile phone, it will generate your first Bitcoin address and you can create more whenever you need one. You can disclose your addresses to your friends so that they can pay you or vice versa. In fact, this is pretty similar to how email works, except that Bitcoin addresses should be used only once.ethereum заработать bitcoin mail bitcoin brokers hashrate ethereum bitcoin сборщик bitcoin xpub dash cryptocurrency abi ethereum bitcointalk ethereum ico bitcoin monero gui tcc bitcoin bitcoin аналитика bitcoin investment monero обменник bitcoin tor bitcoin genesis iphone bitcoin форк ethereum byzantium ethereum world bitcoin lamborghini bitcoin
secp256k1 bitcoin виталий ethereum ethereum geth bitcoin ann
bitcoin blender
monero fork куплю bitcoin earning bitcoin bitcoin statistics monero fr tera bitcoin bitcoin приложение платформы ethereum monero вывод bitcoin pizza bitcoin euro auction bitcoin bitcoin spinner bitcoin приложения bitcoin сегодня 