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.

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.

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.

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).

Last week, on halving day, the Human Rights Foundation launched the Finney Freedom Prize to honor the legacy of Hal Finney and inspire others to follow in his footsteps. As the world becomes increasingly digital, the fight for electronic privacy and cash becomes more and more important.

Depending on your time zone, Bitcoin’s fourth halving will take place tomorrow or Saturday at block height of 840,000. Here’s a great 101 from Andreas Antonopolous on the basics of the halving, why it is important, and what he expects to happen as a result of Bitcoin issuance being cut in half.

After five failed currencies in the last ten years, Zimbabwe is launching yet another currency. This time, one ostensibly backed by foreign reserves and precious metals. Observers, however, remain skeptical, questioning whether the regime will provide sufficient reserves to back up the new currency.

This week’s news is led by the headline that SWIFT — the global messaging system for banks — is developing a central bank digital currency platform to facilitate the interoperability of CBDCs across the globe, most of which are being issued by authoritarian governments.

In Hong Kong, lawmakers have passed a new national security law aimed at suppressing dissent among citizens. Meanwhile, the ruling Indian government has frozen the bank accounts of the Indian National Congress, the largest political opposition group in the country, further raising concerns over the erosion of freedom and democracy.

We’re thrilled to announce that this week HRF granted $500,000 to 14 projects worldwide as part of its Bitcoin Development Fund.

This past week, BRICS — an intergovernmental organization led by the Russian and Chinese dictatorships — explored the development of an independent payment system that aims to use digital currencies and potentially central bank digital currencies.

This week’s news focuses on the growing interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) from governments. Turkey concluded its initial research phase, while Ghana revealed ambitious plans to launch its own CBDC.

This week, we witnessed a rise in state-level censorship in finance and communications. Honduran regulators banned the country’s financial institutions from trading in cryptocurrency; Nigerian officials restricted access to global cryptocurrency exchanges in a desperate attempt to stabilize its currency, the Naira; and Pakistan blocked access to the X platform for eight days straight amid political unrest.

Over the last week, we mourned the murder of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny by Vladimir Putin’s regime.

In the past week, we’ve seen Kosovo’s ban on the Serbian currency, a cross-border CBDC transaction between regimes in the United Arab Emirates and China, Bitcoin claim all-time highs against a variety of different fiat currencies, and a long-awaited breakthrough in the Lightning Network that promises to significantly boost user privacy.

This week we continue to witness Chinese citizens using creative new methods to use bitcoin, Burmese citizens suffering from a post-coup economic crisis, and severe currency devaluation in Nigeria and Egypt, the largest countries in Africa and in the Arab world.

This past week, Egyptians were told to put up with soaring inflation, while we saw Kazakhstan’s financial suppression of journalists and Pakistan’s continued rise in Bitcoin adoption.

Today we bring you news of Chinese citizens trading cryptocurrency despite a state-imposed ban, Russia’s recent blockage of VPN services and privacy protocols ahead of next month’s presidential elections, and Venezuela’s attempt to pass legislation that takes aim at the funding of civil society organizations and human rights defenders.

This week, we delve into censorship on the Indian app stores, protests in Papua New Guinea triggered by pay cuts to the police, Ghana borrowing another $600 million from the IMF, and a new Bitcoin circular economy in Zambia.

This week, we brief you on China’s censorship of economic indicators, the freezing of bank accounts of indigenous activists in the Philippines, and the record inflation rate in Pakistan.

We start 2024 with an exciting announcement: HRF granted $500,000 to 18 projects worldwide. Our Q4 gifts focused on global education, Bitcoin Core, mining decentralization, and projects that support freedom tech developers in closed societies.

For this week’s Financial Freedom report, we cover currency devaluation in Argentina, Hong Kong’s National Police arresting individuals for donating to pro-democracy activists, and recent product launches helping make Bitcoin easy to send worldwide.

This week’s Financial Freedom report covers everything from extreme inflation under regimes in Zimbabwe and Iran to a newly exposed vulnerability allowing tyrants to track mobile phone usage of their citizens to Bitcoin software updates putting more power in the hands of users worldwide.

From Singapore pioneering the use of central bank digital currencies to staggering currency debasement in Cuba and Egypt, it is evident that governments worldwide continue to abuse their digital power.

In this newsletter, HRF will provide useful stories and information to help us better understand the global impact of growing worldwide Bitcoin adoption.