Ines AissaniBitcoin is often discussed from a financial perspective, emphasizing the prowess of its continuous rise since its existence. However, this is not the only place where bitcoin comes to "disrupt" the environment. And, it is perhaps also there that bitcoin takes on a very particular meaning. After all, the very design of Bitcoin derives from the ideology of CypherPunks, which placed confidentiality and freedom at the heart of their fight. These are the origins of Bitcoin and it is therefore in the field of freedom of expression that Bitcoin reveals its full usefulness.
The most powerful countries in the world, like the United States or China could not stop the Bitcoin network. No government in the world has the technical capacity to control, modify and even lessstop Bitcoin. We cannot technically prevent people from sending bitcoin to each other around the world.
This is why Bitcoin is referred to as “ censorship resistant". This essential term in understanding blockchain implies that no central authority controls the network. Thus, in the face of the most authoritarian regimes and from the perspective of political observation, Bitcoin is both a means and an end. A means to fight against economic sanctions and a political end for those who want to fight for a freer world.
Freedom of speech
Many examples have shown us that Bitcoin can help the most deprived populations to finance themselves. Bitcoin brings unparalleled financial freedom for naysayers. Anonymous and inexpensive transactions, carried out outside the national banking system, are the strength of the bitcoin network. This then makes it easy to circumvent the economic sanctions applied.
One example is the protests that broke out in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020. The police force "SARS" (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) was particularly violent towards the protesters. The government froze the bank accounts of political groups supporting the protesters and activists. It is a common practice for governments to use financial repression to limit the actions of opponents. In fact, the protesters turned to bitcoin donations to continue their actions. The movement #EndSARS which started on Twitter is a call to end police brutality in Nigeria and has been largely supported by bitcoin funds.
The EndSARS movement has added a political dimension to bitcoin, already widely used in the country. Nigeria remains the first African country (in proportion to its population) to own the most bitcoin. THE peer-to-peer exchanges in bitcoin continue to increase in volume every year.
There is not only Nigeria who used Bitcoin to support political opponents. L'Ukraine received more than $54 million in bitcoin donations since the start of the conflict with Russia.
In Belarus, when citizens gathered in Minks to protest against President Alexander Lukashenko, a fund called BYSOL was set up and raised over $2 million in bitcoin. In February 2021, anti-Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny received over $300,000 in bitcoin donations.
The examples are more and more numerous and are more visible in emerging countries or in authoritarian regimes. However, even in the most democratic countries, bitcoin serves dissent of all kinds. The best example was the $45 million (in ETH and BTC) raised to support activist Julian Assange via the project Assange DAO.
Bitcoin helps circumvent economic sanctions
Financial pressures are not used only in the national context by certain authoritarian regimes. At the international level, states very often use economic sanctions to force certain regimes to comply and follow international rules. The Cuban or Iranian embargoes are perfect examples. It is also for these reasons that the Iranian government to decide to use payment in cryptocurrencies for its imports. Economic sanctions that hit a country sometimes have dramatic consequences on the lives of ordinary citizens.
We can invoke ethical questions here and ask ourselves if it is moral for a population to suffer from the actions of a minority in power (and which very often they did not choose)? Instead of pouring out dissertations without conclusion, it seems that individuals then choose to act and use bitcoin as a means of circumvention. Thus, they can receive funds from friends or supporters abroad in a simple way, without any restrictions.
Bitcoin, the ultimate weapon of the oppressed?
It goes without saying that today Bitcoin is much more than a speculative asset. In reality, it is even a use that has been grafted a posteriori on Bitcoin. For anyone who bothers to read the Bitcoin white paper, they quickly understand that the ultimate goal is the ability to issue anonymous transactions. He also understands that the resistance to censorship in all forms is the reason for bitcoin; Its essence to put it more clearly.
It stands to reason, then, that minorities or oppressed groups around the world will turn to cryptocurrency as a tool for survival. NGOs and humanitarian associations also use bitcoin to raise funds, in countries where financing is difficult. Bitcoin therefore remains the simplest means of financing in countries where the financial infrastructure is limited.
Of course, one could argue that bitcoin also allows the financing of extremist and terrorist groups. This is indeed very possible. Bitcoin is neutral in its meaning and it can be used by political groups with extreme ideologies.
Just like fiat money, it is impossible to control the use that will be made of cryptocurrencies. However, in the same way that we do not blame Fiat money for its excesses, we cannot blame Bitcoin either. It seems important not to seek to "politicize" Bitcoin excessively and to consider it not as a object but as a tool policy…
In all likelihood, the biggest detractors of bitcoin only focus on the volatile aspect of its price and insist on reducing it to a simple financial asset. This is in reality to miss its other aspect, highly political and deeply philosophical which constitutes its entire ethos.
Read also: Beyond Left and Right: Why We Need to Depoliticize Bitcoin
