Hello, Financial Freedom community,

My name is Win Ko Ko Aung, and I am a global bitcoin adoption fellow at HRF. I help nonprofits operating under authoritarian regimes explore Bitcoin as a tool for financial freedom. Before sharing updates on my work, I’d like to briefly introduce myself and explain how my personal experiences inform what I do at HRF.

My Story 

I arrived in the United States in 2021 as a refugee fleeing military persecution in Burma for my activism against the military coup. In February of that year, the military overthrew the country’s democratically elected leader, imprisoned civilians, and launched a brutal crackdown on dissent. As the country descended into chaos, I became a target.

I was a social entrepreneur, a public figure, and the author of one of Burma’s best-selling books in 2020 titled “A 21st Century Burmese Guy.” I used my voice and platform to speak out against the military coup and mobilize peaceful resistance — and paid the price. My bank accounts were frozen, and I was charged with Section 505(A) of the Penal Code — a law criminalizing free speech, which put my life at risk. I fled without even having time to grab my passport and crossed the Burmese border into Thailand, hiding among migrant laborers to avoid being captured.  

I made it to the US with almost nothing — except a small amount of Bitcoin I had once bought out of curiosity. With my money trapped back home, Bitcoin helped me survive. That experience became the foundation of my work at HRF, where I now help others learn to use Bitcoin as a tool for financial freedom. All while being in exile. 

Financial Repression in Thailand

Since being in exile, I often travel to Thailand to meet with Burmese refugees like myself. I aim to help them learn about Bitcoin — what it is, how to use it, store it safely, and buy or earn it. During these visits, I’ve come to understand that Thai citizens also face financial repression.

Thailand’s regime has relied on laws like lèse-majesté and the Computer Crimes Act to silence dissent. Citizens have been jailed for social media posts critical of the monarchy or military. In extreme cases, dissidents have disappeared. At least nine Thai pro-democracy exiles have gone missing under mysterious circumstances. But the repression goes beyond censorship. The Thai government also uses economic tools to exert control. And unlike overt crackdowns, financial repression often hides in plain sight, masked as policy. 

For years, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) kept interest rates low to stimulate the economy. But when inflation grew to 6.1% in 2021 and rates stayed below 1%, ordinary families were left to absorb the cost. Many fell into debt. With banks denying loans, people turned to “loan sharks” — illegal lenders charging predatory interest and collecting debt through intimidation and harassment. These institutions trap borrowers in a debt cycle they can’t escape. 

Another form of control is through PromptPay, Thailand’s real-time payment system. It enables fast, low-cost transfers between people using a citizen ID, phone number, or bank account. While praised for its convenience, PromptPay is fully centralized and integrated with government ID systems. Transfers above 50,000 baht (equivalent to $1,504) require  facial recognition — erasing what little financial privacy remains.

Then there’s Thailand’s new central bank digital currency (CBDC), which will make it easier for the government to surveil and censor transactions. The government-issued 10,000 baht ($300) stimulus could only be spent within designated areas, timeframes, and vendors. This move reveals how programmable money like CBDCs can be used to restrict spending, savings, and financial autonomy. 

While both systems digitize payments, their implications differ: PromptPay builds on existing banking infrastructure. In contrast, the CBDC signals a future where the state can dictate how, where, and when people use their money.  

In Thailand’s environment, this is very concerning.

A Different Path: Bitcoin 

In contrast to state-controlled money like CBDCs, Bitcoin offers something unique: unstoppable, uncensorable, permissionless money. It operates outside the reach of both authoritarian regimes and central banks. For people living under dictatorship, it’’s a tool for financial autonomy and freedom. 

There are others who would agree.

On one visit to Thailand, I traveled to Nikhom Huai Phueng, a small rural village near the Laos border, where I met Mick — a local Bitcoiner championing financial freedom in his community. He opened a coffee shop to teach others about Bitcoin amidst their financial hardships. What began as casual and educational conversations grew into a movement. Today, more than 40 local businesses in his village accept Bitcoin. I recently paid for a tuk-tuk ride and fruit juice with satoshis (or sats for short, which are small denominations of bitcoin). 

Mick reminds me that when financial systems fail, people build their own. They create parallel economies rooted in trust. They seek harder assets. They want money that can’t be tracked, frozen, or confiscated. They want to save, build, and plan for the future — and help others directly. 

That truth hit home again when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck my home country, Burma, killing over 3,500 people (likely many more). The military junta blocked access to the hardest-hit areas and even launched airstrikes against people trying to flee, continuing their long-standing pattern of blocking humanitarian and financial aid. But Bitcoin made peer-to-peer relief possible.

I launched a Bitcoin crowdfunding campaign on Geyser Fund called Bitcoin Aid For Myanmar (in partnership with local NGOs). We were able to raise more than five million sats (and counting). This let us fund tens of thousands of meals and deliver rice to 350 households in the Sagaing region, where aid was blocked by the military junta. 

In a country where banks are controlled by the junta and foreign aid is blocked, Bitcoin made direct, unstoppable relief possible. 

Reflections  

What I’ve witnessed in Thailand and Burma only reaffirms my belief: when governments fail, repress their people, and collapse currencies, Bitcoin provides an escape hatch. In times of crisis, it makes aid and survival possible. Bitcoin gives people the opportunity to rebuild their lives when dictators want to oppress them.

As a global bitcoin adoption fellow, that’s my mission: to accelerate this shift. To show ordinary citizens, vulnerable communities, and nonprofits that Bitcoin can be a lifeline for savings, survival, and self-determination. Alongside my colleague Anna Chekhovich, HRF’s nonprofit bitcoin adoption lead, we’ve already helped onboard more than 300 nonprofit and civil society leaders and their organizations onto Bitcoin. Our goal is to grow that number to 1,000 by 2025.  

There’s still much work to do. But step by step, we’re helping people use Bitcoin to survive and thrive. 

If you’d like to connect or collaborate, feel free to reach out at [email protected] or LinkedIn.

Best,

— Win Ko Ko Aung