Good morning!

Financial Freedom Report #131 is here and covers India’s order for GitHub to restrict Bitchat code repositories after internet access was suspended during student protests in Delhi. Bitchat lets users communicate over Bluetooth without an internet connection, making it useful when governments shut networks down.

In Bitcoin news, nine institutions, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Coinbase, and Strategy, launched the Bitcoin Security Consortium, pledging $15 million over three years toward Bitcoin security research.

We include Alex Gladstein’s new essay in the Journal of Democracy, which explores how open and private AI agents can help human rights defenders close the resource gap against authoritarian regimes.

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The conversation around AI often assumes one outcome: more power for dictators. But what if AI could instead become one of the most powerful tools for those resisting them?

In a new article for the Journal of Democracy, HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein argues that privacy-preserving, open-source AI has the potential to fundamentally shift the balance of power by giving human rights defenders the tools to organize, research, build, and communicate at unprecedented scale.

The future of AI isn't just about who builds the smartest models. It's about who controls them.

Read the full article:

https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclusive/how-ai-agents-are-empowering-human-rights-defenders/

Good morning!

Financial Freedom Report #130 is here and covers the expansion of financial surveillance under Russia's foreign agent law, which now requires banks to provide officials with information about a given individual or organization's financial activity within 3 working days of a request.

In freedom tech news, the Cashu ecash wallet Cashu Me, launched a native Android and iOS version, expanding the accessibility of ecash to human rights defenders and individuals more broadly.

We end with the launch of Coin Center's new Substack, Peer-to-Peer, which focuses on technological authoritarianism and the open-source tools being built to resist it.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #127 is here and brings news from Gaza, where Palestinians report that they are unable to access their own money after the Bank of Palestine froze accounts without warning.

In #Bitcoin news, Ashigaru released a desktop wallet that includes CoinJoin, a privacy-preserving technique that obfuscates transaction details by mixing the inputs of multiple transactions.

We inlcude an essay from software engineer Innocencia Ndembera, who shares her reflections on discovering Bitcoin and the opportunities it offers Malawi.

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Good afternoon, friends!

The AI for Individual Rights newsletter #11 is out.

A recent report revealed potential advances in North Korea’s AI capabilities that enable dangerous surveillance use cases.

Meanwhile, Chinese AI company Z.ai launched an open-weight model that performed nearly on par with OpenAI and Anthropic’s models, despite being cheaper. But what is the risk of relying on a model that is developed by a company operating in an authoritarian regime? Read the newsletter to find out.

We end with reflections from HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein on how AI has advanced freedom over the past three months and how HRF’s recent efforts put these new abilities into the hands of dissidents.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #126 has been published and covers new economic reforms being passed by the Communist Party of Cuba, but critics warn these represent not a genuine economic opening, but rather a controlled transfer of state assets into the hands of politically connected insiders.

In #Bitcoin News, Cashu developers announced they are adding Payjoin support to the ecash protocol, potentially improving privacy at the edges of the system.

We include a podcast episode with activist Win Ko Ko Aung, who shares his journey from growing up under military rule in Burma to becoming a leading advocate for Bitcoin and financial freedom.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #126 has just been published and covers new economic reforms passed by the Communist Party of Cuba. Rather than a genuine economic opening, though, critics warn it could instead represent a controlled privatization of state assets into the hands of politically connected insiders.

In #Bitcoin news, Cashu developers announced they are working on Payjoin support for the ecash protocol, which could help improve privacy at the edges of the system.

We include a podcast episode featuring activist Win Ko Ko Aung, who shares his journey from growing up under military rule in Burma to becoming a leading advocate for Bitcoin and financial freedom.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #125 is here and covers the alarming escalation of a law proposed by the military junta in Burma that would grant officials real-time access to citizens' financial and communications data.

In #Bitcoin news, we cover the launch of Bark on Mainnet, another backend for Bitcoin wallets and applications to use the Lightning Network and provide users with fast and low-cost payments.

We include El Faro's account of the Bukele government freezing the bank accounts and property of two shareholders of the independent media outlet.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #124 is here and covers an alarming attempt by the Kenyan government to sell datasets it collects from public service portals like eCitizen.

In Bitcoin news, we highlight developments of a new layer-two called Cube, an attempt to expand the capabilities of Bitcoin without changing core operational realities.

We also feature this year’s Freedom Tech track at the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, where dissidents, technologists, and human rights defenders explored how Bitcoin, Nostr, Bitchat, and open-source AI can help people communicate, transact, and resist authoritarian repression.

Enjoy the report.

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The Human Rights Foundation just published “Bitcoin for Nonprofits: A Guide To Help Your Movement Achieve Financial Freedom.”

This is a practical guide for civil society organizations to accept and manage Bitcoin donations. It covers key tools, privacy best practices, real-world case studies from activists already using it, and common misconceptions.

If you work with or support nonprofits, please help share this guide. The more organizations that can receive sats, the harder they will be for dictators to shut down.

Read or download the PDF: https://hrf.org/latest/bitcoin-for-nonprofits-a-guide-to-help-your-movement-achieve-financial-freedom/

Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #121 is here!

In El Salvador, officials froze the assets of two members of El Faro, one of the country’s leading independent media organizations, a textbook case of financial repression to silence independent journalism.

In freedom tech news, we cover the launch of Maple AI's new private Personal Intelligence Platform that expands Maple from a private AI chatbot into a suite of encrypted AI tools.

We include an interview with Afghan activist and tech entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, who explains why Bitcoin is perceived radically differently in places like Kabul or Tehran than it is in New York or London.

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Good evening, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #119 is now published.

In Kenya, several Binance users are reporting account freezes at the request of law enforcement.

In freedom tech news, we highlight a new Mini App inside the Fedi ecash app that connects to India's widely used UPI payment network and enables private, Bitcoin-based payments for everyday purchases.

We end with an episode of the new renaissance capital podcast, featuring Ideas Beyond Borders founder Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, who discusses the conflict in Iran and how Bitcoin is being adopted across the Middle East.

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