At the Oslo Freedom Forum this year, Len Alden argued that Bitcoin is now liquid enough to be used in a human rights context, a compelling argument with which I agree.
Bitcoin, which now has a market capitalization of more than $1.2 trillion, is less volatile than it was a decade ago, and can now be used more easily to help empower those who have historically been disenfranchised. (The larger the market cap of an asset, the less volatile the price of the asset becomes. When Bitcoin had a much lower market cap in its early days, it was not uncommon to see It loses more than 80% of its value In accidents. For this reason, it was very difficult to use in a human rights context at that time.)
Here are some examples of how Bitcoin is currently being used for human rights purposes:
- Bitcoin Dada She educates African women on how to invest in and use Bitcoin. Many women in Africa live in patriarchal societies where women are not allowed to own property. Bitcoin helps them undermine such rules, allowing them to save in the hardest assets ever known to humanity, with few the wiser.
- Bitcoin two It is a Bitcoin circular economy and community center located in Ghana where community members not only learn what Bitcoin is and how to use it but also what skills they can use to get jobs where they can earn money with Bitcoin. This program is particularly important in a country where the traditional currency was… The worst performing currency in the world in 2022 It continues to decline in value against the US dollar.
- Ludmila Kozlovskapresident Open Dialogue Foundationsomeone who was Destroyed by dictators She herself has made the case to regulators in the US and Europe that Bitcoin is a financial and financial network of last resort for pro-democracy activists living under authoritarian regimes and that the right to use it needs to be protected. She argues that one of the first steps in today’s dictators’ playbook is to isolate dissidents from the traditional financial system, leaving said dissenters to use Bitcoin as their primary means of transacting.
The work done by these people, programs, organizations, and many others like them during the previous era of Bitcoin has paved the way for the Age of Empowerment – the Fifth Age of Bitcoin, an era in which it will become synonymous with the term “human rights.” “
However, this will not come without challenges.
High fees on the Bitcoin main chain will drive some users out of self-custody, pushing them to use Layer 2 solutions like Lightning and Lightning extensions like ecash, which are untraceable versions of sats that can be sent at almost no cost.
Companies like Fedi have developed a super app for the Global South that gives users access to Lightning, ecash, and other freedom technologies, while They are drunk It enables residents in various African countries to transact with Bitcoin in a guarded manner using feature phones (non-smartphones). (Machankura is also working on Turn feature phones into Bitcoin hardware wallets.)
Layer 2 solutions will not be perfect and there will be trade-offs with each. But even taking into account the drawbacks of the technologies that make Bitcoin more usable, it still provides many around the world with access to a parallel financial system, acting as a hedge to existing monetary and financial systems.
As new challenges arise, I have no doubt that organizations such as Human Rights Foundation will continue to Bringing together activists and educators with developers and entrepreneurs To address these challenges and to help bring Bitcoin – the people’s money – to those who need it most in this age, the age of empowerment.
This article is a takes. The opinions expressed are entirely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.