Latest Category: Financial Freedom Report

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.

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.

In Nigeria, the state anti-corruption agency dropped money laundering charges against Tigran Gambaryan, a Binance employee detained by the regime since February.

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.

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.

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.