In a new essay for The Wall Street Journal, HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein examines what happens when people cannot rely on their governments or financial systems to protect their savings, access their money, or transact freely.
From collapsing currencies to frozen bank accounts, Gladstein argues that for people living under authoritarian regimes — such as Russia, China, Nicaragua, Belarus, and Iran — financial independence can be a matter of freedom and survival. He makes the case for Bitcoin as more than just an investment, but rather as a tool that can help people save, transact, and support civil society without government permission.
Bitcoin’s Overlooked Promise: Freedom
By Alex Gladstein
Bitcoin was launched in January 2009 in direct response to the Great Financial Crisis. In the wake of the biggest economic crash since the 1930s—during which 10 million Americans lost their homes, nearly $20 trillion in U.S. household wealth was destroyed, half the U.S. stock market was wiped out and nearly 9 million Americans lost their jobs—only one banker went to jail. Instead of jail time, the financial industry received a $443 billion bailout.Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention was a protest and demonstration: We could have another kind of money and financial system—one where the people were in control, and where we could transact with each other and save without relying on the governments and corporations that betrayed us so badly.
For Americans, bitcoin has been a spectacular success. Since its creation, it has been the single greatest investment on Earth, rising in price from less than a penny to more than $75,000. Any American can transact with any other American in total freedom on the bitcoin network. Dozens of American companies have thrived and even become unicorns brokering bitcoin, mining bitcoin and providing bitcoin services. This year, more than 4 million small businesses in Square’s merchant network are coming online, allowing Americans to spend bitcoin and use it as money in their neighborhoods and communities.
Continue Reading at The Wall Street Journal
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