A group of 21 human rights activists is standing up for bitcoin. Through a letter to the US Congress, the group wants to show that crypto can help all over the world. According to the activists, tens of millions rely on bitcoin and stablecoins to access financial instruments.
Who are these activists?
This group, consisting of initiators from 20 countries, submitted a letter to the US Congress. With this, the activists want to create a responsible crypto policy. They think that crypto can promote democracy and freedom for tens of millions.
It is striking to see where these people come from. They are mainly countries that are not exactly economically stable, or experience other major problems. A few examples are Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela and also North Korea. The activist from this last country is a well-known writer who was able to flee from the North Korean regime; Yeonmi Park. She also spoke at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami.
Policy makers cannot ignore it
For the rest, there are no small ones among them. One of the signatories is Alex Gladstein. He is Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation and has been working on financial inclusion through bitcoin in third world countries for quite some time. He also tweeted about this letter to the US Congress:
Today I join 20 rights advocates from 20 countries in asking Congress to consider Bitcoin’s humanitarian impact.
Western technologists may ignore Bitcoin's role in helping tens of millions under tyranny or failed economies, but policymakers should not 🌍https://t.co/GgKnDb5RcL
— Alex Gladstein 🌋 ⚡ (@gladstein) June 7, 2022
“Today I join 20 rights advocates from 20 countries asking Congress to consider the humanitarian impact of Bitcoin,” Alex Gladstein tweeted. “Western technologists can ignore bitcoin’s role in helping tens of millions under tyranny or failed economies, but policymakers shouldn’t.”
A response to anti-crypto
This ‘pro-crypto letter’ is a response to an ‘anti-crypto’ variant sent to Congress last week. The main signatories are well-known crypto-critics and authors with high incomes in democratic countries, reports CoinTelegraph. This is a big contrast to the current letter:
“We write to urge an unbiased, empathetic approach to monetary instruments that increasingly play a role in the lives of people facing political oppression and economic hardship,” the pro-crypto letter to Congress reads.
The group of human rights activists also says it has faith in bitcoin and stablecoins in the “fight for freedom and democracy”. They also add that a lot of people – who use these digital currencies – live in authoritarian regimes or volatile economies.
“Bitcoin and stablecoins offer people in countries like Nigeria, Turkey or Argentina, where local currencies collapse, break down or are cut off from the outside world, unlimited access to the global economy,” the letter says.
