Blog Post Dec 5, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #52 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.
Blog Post Nov 28, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #51 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.
Blog Post Nov 27, 2024 Like, Tweet, & Torment: Maduro Weaponizes Popular Applications to Aid Election Theft Following Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election in which President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory over opposition candidate Edmundo González despite overwhelming data to the contrary — González received around 67% of the vote —thousands of Venezuelans have protested the results across the country.
Blog Post Nov 8, 2024 Election Watch Tunisia: Tunisia’s Democratic Dismantling Tunisian President Kais Saied won yet another election on Oct. 6, securing an overwhelming 90.7% of the vote, up from 73% since his previous win in 2019. His win, however, is anything but surprising, considering that he’s dismantled nearly all forms of democratic checks to his power.
Blog Post Nov 7, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #48 Indian regulators are contemplating a ban on digital assets like Bitcoin to position their central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Rupee, as the country’s dominant option.
Blog Post Oct 31, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #47 In Nigeria, the state anti-corruption agency dropped money laundering charges against Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance employee detained by the regime since February.
Blog Post Oct 24, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #46 We are excited to share that HRF’s CBDC Tracker is a finalist in this year’s Anthem Awards, which honor social impact work across various fields.
Blog Post Oct 18, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 4: Soviet Sports propaganda When Tsar Peter I — better known as Peter the Great — visited England in 1689, he arranged what has been called the “first international boxing match” in the garden of the nobleman’s home.
Blog Post Oct 10, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #44 Last week, HRF hosted the second annual Global Bitcoin Summit, bringing together more than 125 human rights defenders, Bitcoin developers, social entrepreneurs, and UI/UX designers from more than 60 countries at the beautiful Bitcoin Park in Nashville, Tenn.
Blog Post Oct 3, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #43 In Kuwait, the government is escalating surveillance by mandating biometric fingerprint data for all citizens and threatening to restrict their financial accounts, assets, and government services if they fail to comply.
Blog Post Sep 26, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #42 In Zimbabwe, the regime’s new ZiG currency is rapidly losing value, depreciating by up to 80% on the parallel market as citizens lose confidence in the state’s latest monetary experiment. Despite government interventions — including creating artificial scarcity, freezing bank accounts, and arresting currency traders — Zimbabwe is on the brink of yet another currency failure.
Blog Post Sep 19, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #41 This week, authoritarian regimes continued to use financial repression tactics to target dissidents and opposition movements. In Nicaragua, the National Assembly unanimously approved a reform allowing the regime to prosecute and seize the assets of exiled citizens.
Blog Post Sep 12, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #40 This week, Bitcoin took center stage in Venezuela’s struggle for financial freedom. After the Maduro regime brazenly stole the country’s presidential election, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado spoke in an exclusive interview with the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), where she called Bitcoin a “lifeline” and a “vital means for resistance” for Venezuelans suffering under repression and hyperinflation.
Blog Post Sep 6, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 3: Post-WWII Soft Power Long before the inception of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, sports have been used to distract the masses, test foreign policies, thaw diplomatic tensions, and broadcast political and social messaging.
Blog Post Sep 5, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #39 In Syria, Bashar al-Assad’s economic policies continue to devastate the lives of millions while he enforces a tight grip on power. Manipulated currency exchange rates and strict monetary controls have deepened poverty and wreaked havoc on the Syrian lira’s value, offering a sobering view into the impact of authoritarian rule on the financial freedom of everyday citizens.
Blog Post Aug 22, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #37 In Russia, the crackdown on charitable donations continues. Ksenia Karelina, a dual Russian-American citizen, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for donating $51 to a Ukrainian charity. Her case highlights the severe risks individuals face when supporting Russian opposition and reminds us of the critical need for financial privacy, especially for the billions of people who live under tyrannical regimes.
Blog Post Aug 15, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #36 As Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro tightens his grip on power, he has restricted access to Binance, the world’s largest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange. For many Venezuelans, Binance was a helpful lifeline offering peer-to-peer access to USD, Bitcoin, and stablecoins. Now, many are left increasingly trapped with the crumbling bolívar.
Blog Post Aug 14, 2024 Election Watch: Bangladesh Took One More Step Toward Authoritarianism When the people of Bangladesh went to the polls on Jan. 7, they did so knowing the outcome was already predetermined: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ruling Awami League won a fourth consecutive term, pushing the country further toward authoritarianism.
Blog Post Aug 9, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 2: The Rise of Fascism Long before the inception of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, sports have been used to distract the masses, test foreign policies, thaw diplomatic tensions, and broadcast political and social messaging.
Blog Post Aug 8, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #35 In Nigeria, widespread discontent with President Bola Tinubu’s financially repressive policies sparked nationwide protests. Security forces descended on citizens peacefully protesting against the devaluation of the naira and soaring inflation, which has reached a 30-year high in a country where 40% of the population already suffers under extreme poverty.