Why Bitcoin is Important for Human Rights

In this audio segment, Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, talks about how Bitcoin can help strengthen civil liberties and challenge authoritarian powers.

He outlines two important technological innovations that make Bitcoin important for people under financial or political oppression: Bitcoin is an accessible and equitable savings technology and it is a censorship-resistant medium of exchange. While many view Bitcoin purely as a financial investment opportunity, as Alex points out in this step, it is a revolutionary technology that creates equity by fundamentally reshaping the global financial systems.

Discussion: In what ways did Alex’s segment change the way you view Bitcoin’s potential to change the current state of global finance? Did it expand your understanding of who benefits and how? How so?