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 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 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.
Blog Post Aug 1, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #34 In Venezuela — recently home to one of the most catastrophic episodes of hyperinflation in history — dictator Nicolás Maduro fraudulently claimed victory in the country’s presidential election.
Blog Post Jul 25, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #33 Across the world this week, authoritarian regimes predictably continue leveraging centralized technologies and top-down policies to tighten their grip on power. In Russia, Vladimir Putin pushes for harsh regulations on Bitcoin mining, citing fears of potential power outages.
Blog Post Jul 19, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #32 This week, authoritarian regimes intensified financial controls in response to global cost of living pressures. In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele initiated investigations into supermarkets allegedly hiking the prices of basic goods.
Blog Post Jul 11, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #31 This week, financial policies impacting personal freedoms worldwide take center stage. In Russia, imprisoned opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza was transferred to a prison hospital, while officials issued an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Alexei Navalny and new chair of the Human Rights Foundation, for being part of an “extremist group.”
Blog Post Jul 8, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #30 In Kenya, thousands of young citizens protested new taxes and a bailout for the government, which continues to erode democracy. Thirty-nine people were killed. Meanwhile, Bolivia experienced an alleged coup attempt led by the former commander general of the military, which some suspect was orchestrated by President Luis Arce to boost his dwindling popularity amid severe financial hardships.
Blog Post Jun 28, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #29 This past week, Russian officials detained a Russian-American woman for the “crime” of donating $51.80 to a pro-Ukraine charity. Meanwhile, in China, the regime renamed over 600 villages significant to the Uyghur Muslim minority group in its efforts to further erase Uyghur cultural identity.
Blog Post Jun 20, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #28 From June 3 to 5, human rights advocates gathered in Norway for the Oslo Freedom Forum to share their stories and reclaim individual rights from authoritarian regimes. During the Financial Freedom track, speakers highlighted how Bitcoin funds counter-terrorism and pro-democracy movements, provides banking services to repressed populations, and safeguards against the risks of central bank digital currencies.
Blog Post Jun 13, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #27 From June 3 to 5, human rights advocates gathered in Norway for the Oslo Freedom Forum to share their stories and reclaim individual rights from authoritarian regimes. During the Financial Freedom track, speakers highlighted how Bitcoin funds counter-terrorism and pro-democracy movements, provides banking services to repressed populations, and safeguards against the risks of central bank digital currencies.
Blog Post May 30, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #26 This week in Nicaragua, the number of political prisoners continues to grow. This time, the targets are journalists and teachers who are arbitrarily detained and often cut off from their banking accounts.
Blog Post May 23, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #25 In Hong Kong, officials launched a pilot program for China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-CNY, marking its first expansion beyond the mainland. But even under duress, adoption remains limited as many Chinese workers are quickly converting their e-CNY for traditional currency, emphasizing their distrust of centralized digital currencies.
Blog Post May 16, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #24 This week in Russia, Vladimir Putin’s “reelection” for a fifth term underscores a deepening authoritarian regime, characterized by stringent control over the financial system and harsh crackdowns on dissenters — a far cry from his pledge to “preserve and develop democracy” when first assuming office in 2000.
Blog Post May 9, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #23 n Nigeria, the director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the government’s intention to delist the naira from peer-to-peer platforms, a move that would effectively trap the public inside the failing currency.
Blog Post May 3, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #22 This week news centered around the harassment of press freedom defenders through financial de-platforming. In Somalia, the regime froze the bank accounts of the Somali Journalist Syndicate (SJS).
