HRF

Financial Freedom Report #100

One hundred weeks ago, we set out to document how authoritarian regimes manipulate money and employ financial repression to restrict civil liberties, silence dissent, and undermine human rights – and how individuals are resisting with open-source software.

#Bitcoin#Human Rights#Financial Freedom

Good morning, readers!

A hundred editions later, the stakes are even higher. More activists, journalists, and ordinary people are discovering that their bank accounts, communications, and livelihoods can disappear overnight. The tactics of financial repression are spreading, and billions now live under governments willing to interfere with or outright eliminate financial freedom.

It’s against this backdrop that we mark this important milestone.

Welcome to the 100th edition of the Financial Freedom Report, made possible by you: readers who care about these issues as much as we do.

We begin this week in Cuba, where the regime has frozen the foreign currency accounts of international companies, preventing them from accessing or repatriating their own money.

In freedom tech news, the Caribbean’s first native Bitcoin app, Flash Wallet, proved indispensable after Hurricane Melissa hit in October. It enabled fast and permissionless fundraising, providing disaster relief days before traditional aid organizations could mobilize.

We include a New York Times feature on Roya Mahboob, an Afghan tech pioneer and founder of the Digital Citizen Fund, whose offline learning tools, underground study networks, and Bitcoin-based financial education are helping girls reclaim their right to learn under Taliban rule.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the full picture.

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GLOBAL NEWS

Cuba | Regime Freezes Bank Accounts of Foreign Companies

The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) has imposed a freeze on the bank accounts of foreign companies, preventing them from withdrawing or transferring foreign currency held in Cuban banks. Cuban officials are instead offering a new type of foreign currency bank account funded solely with fresh foreign currency. This move, which a Cuban economist described as theft, shows how desperate the Cuban regime is at this moment, and shows there is no limit to the creativity of their financial repression.

In Context: Over the past year, the PCC has significantly restricted access to dollars. The regime is increasingly resorting to funds in the banking system to cover the cost of importing 80 percent of goods consumed on the island.

China | Central Bank Vows Digital Asset Crackdown

The People’s Bank of China reaffirmed its hostility toward digital assets and announced it would increase scrutiny of stablecoins. In a statement, the central bank warned of rising speculation and promised stricter enforcement against peer-to-peer stablecoin activity, expressing particular concern over customer identification requirements and anti-money-laundering controls. “Virtual currencies do not hold the same legal status as fiat currency and cannot be used as legal tender in the market,” the central bank said. It added that it will “intensify efforts to combat related illegal financial activities” to maintain financial stability.

In Context: The Chinese regime banned Bitcoin’s use as a currency in 2021 and continues to promote its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, as the future of payments in China, while restricting access to any challengers.

Bolivia | Government Moves to Integrate Digital Assets Into Financial System

As Bolivia emerges from almost 20 years of hybrid authoritarianism under the MAS party, the newly appointed Economy Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza announced a major policy shift last week, informing the public that the country will begin to formally integrate digital assets into its financial system. Under the plan, which begins with stablecoins, banks will be allowed to offer digital asset-denominated savings accounts, credit cards, and loans. Custody of digital assets will enable them to function as legal-tender payment instruments. In the announcement, Espinoza added that the move could improve financial inclusion. Digital asset use in Bolivia sharply rose after the repeal of a prior ban last year, as many Bolivians turned to Bitcoin to protect their savings in the face of a rapidly depreciating boliviano.

Morocco | Bill Introduced to Strictly Regulate Digital Assets

Morocco’s Ministry of Economy and Finance introduced Bill 42.25, a draft law that would formally regulate digital assets for the first time. The bill permits only licensed corporate entities to issue, trade, or handle digital assets and places them under strict oversight from the central bank and the capital markets authority. Individuals remain barred from using digital assets for payments. The law would also create a new National Financial Intelligence Authority to oversee anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism enforcement, requiring digital asset providers to verify users’ identities, retain transaction data for a decade, and report suspicious transactions.

In Context: While the bill would legitimize digital assets in Morocco, if passed, it could centralize surveillance power and pose risks for dissidents who rely on open, permissionless financial tools.

Turkey | CBDC Progress Report Released

The Central Bank of Turkey released a progress report on the second phase of its CBDC, the Digital Turkish Lira. The report highlighted advances in programmable payments, offline functionality, and cross-border interoperability. The pilot CBDC is being developed into a minimum viable product with incumbent financial intermediaries fully integrated. It risks granting the state greater control over how, when, and where the Digital Turkish Lira is spent as it is further integrated into the economy. The report also hints at the implementation of digital identity applications to complement the CBDC. If Turkish officials approve of the progress of the second phase, the CBDC will move to a third phase focused on issuance and legal implementation.

BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS

Flash | Jamaica’s Financial Lifeline After Hurricane Melissa

After Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica and disrupted the banking system, the country’s first native Bitcoin app, Flash, became a critical tool for rapid disaster relief. Built by Jamaican developer and HRF grantee Dread, the Bitcoin wallet enabled instant fundraising and donations that amounted to more than $10,000 within 72 hours. Volunteers used the app to convert Bitcoin to cash, purchase supplies, and distribute water purification tablets and food, before traditional aid channels mobilized. In a time of crisis, Flash proves the practical value of permissionless Bitcoin infrastructure. Flash demonstrates how Bitcoin tools can provide rapid relief during crises, and shows similar promise for communities facing economic turmoil or authoritarian restrictions across the region.

Fedimint | Planned Implementation of Lightning Address Support

Fedimint developers are advancing PR7988, a major update that will bring full Lightning Address support to the protocol. Fedimint plans to implement Lightning Network URL-based Lightning Addresses and bring their capabilities to its software development kit (SDK). This upgrade would make Fedimints more interoperable with mainstream Lightning tools and simplify payments for users.

Why this matters: As a community custody ecash system, Fedimint helps civil society groups create their own private, low-cost financial rails. Lightning Address support makes this freedom technology more accessible and user-friendly for people facing financial repression.

Electrum Wallet | Submarine Payments Planned for Next Release

Electrum, one of Bitcoin’s longest-running open-source self-custody wallets, announced support for submarine payments in its upcoming release. This feature allows users to pay a Lightning invoice using on-chain Bitcoin and vice versa, bridging the gap between on-chain and Lightning balances without relying on custodial swap services (which introduce counterparty risk). Submarine payments lower fees, increase privacy, simplify liquidity management, and give users more flexibility in how they transact when using Bitcoin.

Why this matters: Submarine payments are valuable for activists and journalists who need to move Bitcoin across a mix of on-chain and Lightning wallets while preserving their privacy under surveillance-heavy regimes.

WallAxe | Experimental Plug-in BitAxe Device

A new experimental community project called WallAxe aims to make home Bitcoin mining even more accessible by transforming open-source Bitaxe hardware into a discreet, wall-plug device. While still in development, WallAxe plans to integrate the device’s power supply directly into the unit, eliminating the need for a stand or external cables. This would theoretically allow users to mine from virtually any outlet with minimal space and attention.

Why this matters: Wider adoption of BitAxe-style projects could expand home mining, strengthen Bitcoin’s decentralization, and reduce reliance on industrial mining operations that could censor transactions.

Africa Bitcoin Conference | 2025 Conference Kicks off in Mauritius

The Africa Bitcoin Conference (ABC) is hosting its fourth edition this week in Port Louis, Mauritius. Located at the Caudan Art Center this year, ABC is once again bringing together activists, Bitcoin educators, builders, and freedom tech developers to examine Bitcoin’s potential for financial inclusion, inflation resistance, and uncensorable payments. Now the largest Bitcoin gathering on the continent, ABC has become a central forum for advancing financial freedom across Africa. HRF is proud to act as a leading conference sponsor to help delegates from dozens of countries ruled by authoritarian regimes participate each year.