At the Bitcoin Policy Summit in Washington, Alex Gladstein from the Human Rights Foundation raised the question of how Bitcoin can serve as a protection against authoritarian regimes.
How Bitcoin Undermines Authoritarian Control
Alex Gladstein stated that Bitcoin "literally saves" citizens living under authoritarian regimes. He emphasized that this technology weakens traditional levers of control used by oppressive states. According to him, dictatorships typically rely on three tools to maintain power: hyperinflation, freezing bank accounts, and financial surveillance to identify and neutralize dissenters. "If you hold your bitcoins yourself, governments can neither erase nor freeze them, and they certainly cannot inflict hyperinflation on you."
History of Bitcoin's Use in Resistance
The history of Bitcoin as a resistance tool dates back to 2013 during the Ukrainian revolution. Gladstein recalls that at that time Bitcoin was worth about a hundred dollars, and there were initial doubts about its effectiveness. However, pro-democracy protesters against Yanukovych's authoritarian regime were looking for a way to fund their actions without going through traditional channels. Bitcoin fulfilled this role by allowing them to "send value where traditional money could no longer circulate."
Bitcoin as a Strategic Asset for States
Interestingly, Bitcoin is also attracting the attention of great powers. The United States, in particular, under the Trump administration, began to accumulate Bitcoin through judicial seizures in order to build a national strategic reserve. Gladstein warns that the effectiveness of this technology depends on its proper use: "If they use Bitcoin correctly, without associating it with their identity, citizens can escape surveillance."
Bitcoin is gradually establishing itself as a major geopolitical force, emancipating citizens from authoritarian regimes while also becoming an instrument of power for Western democracies. This duality redefines global balances and could transform the very nature of political power in the 21st century.
