Latest Category: Blog Series

This week, we highlight how authoritarian regimes are manipulating digital assets. The Central African Republic launched a government-backed meme coin that crashed spectacularly within a day of launch as regime insiders cashed out for profits, leaving the public with worthless tokens.

In India, the central bank has taken a significant step toward launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee. In partnership with fintech firms Mobikwik and Cred, the digital rupee is now available to 180 million users through a new “e₹ wallet,” a CBDC wallet app designed for public use.

This week, authoritarian regimes augmented their control and monitoring of online spaces in an attempt to suppress the dissenting voices of those they have financially repressed.

In Iran, officials are accused of exploiting a recent currency devaluation to profit at the public’s expense.

In Burma, the military junta introduced a far-reaching cybersecurity law that criminalizes privacy tools like VPNs and mandates online platforms to store and share user data with state officials.

Welcome to 2025! As the year begins, authoritarian regimes have swiftly escalated financial repression, intensifying efforts to dismantle civil society, undermine due process, and suppress dissent.

In Russia, the State Duma passed sweeping amendments granting officials the ability to equate “funding extremist activities” with “financing terrorism.”

After 53 years of tyranny, the Syrian regime has been overthrown.

This week, governments and financial institutions around the world advanced policies that amplify the divide between state interests and the daily economic realities of citizens.

In Thailand, the government initiated the second phase of its digital cash handout, targeting four million Thai seniors with 10,000 baht ($290) distributed via their state-controlled “Tang Rath” app.

In Turkey, through years of double-digit inflation, the state has eroded the value of the country’s largest banknote, the 200-lira bill, whose purchasing power has plummeted from $140 in 2010 to just $5.80 today.