The decentralized nature of Bitcoin is being hailed as a potential solution to limit government corruption and tyranny, according to Alex Gladstein, Bitcoin advocate and chief strategy officer of the Human Rights Foundation. He argues that in broken democracies, fiat currency is often to blame, and that Bitcoin can act as a barrier against corruption and tyranny. Gladstein, who has served the non-profit organization since 2007, has been delivering lectures on Bitcoin and the future of money at Singularity University events.
Bitcoin: Promoting Free Speech, Property Rights, and Open Capital Markets
Gladstein says that Bitcoin represents free speech, property rights, and open capital markets, all of which are stifling to a tyrannical government that often needs censorship, confiscation, and closed capital markets. This is why governments like China and Russia need censorship, confiscation, and closed capital markets to survive. He added that Bitcoin makes it difficult for governments to impose those things on their people. China and Russia have been hostile toward crypto in the past, with the Chinese government banning virtually all crypto transactions in 2021, and Russia prohibiting the use of crypto for payment purposes in 2020.
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Censorship Resistance and the Benefits of Bitcoin
Gladstein’s argument about crypto has echoed similar views from others in the past. Bitcoin infrastructure provider OpenNode, for instance, wrote in 2021 about the benefit that BTC donations had in evading authoritative crackdowns. According to a February 2022 investigation by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, one of the biggest reasons for embracing blockchain-based fundraising was to avoid traditional accounts being closed by financial institutions.
More Trigger Moments to Turn People to BTC
Gladstein predicts that there will be more “trigger moments” in the coming years, with more people having “technical and liquidity trouble with traditional financial services,” which will result in more people shifting to BTC as an alternative. He believes that if there is a conflict or a breakdown in trade or communications, it will cause a lot of problems, and each problem is like a moment that will create a new Bitcoiner out of necessity. He also believes that dictatorial powers will not do well in a Bitcoin standard, making it difficult for them to survive.
This story originally appeared on Cointelegraph.com
