One month ago, Harshvardhan (“Hash”), an alumni of the MIT Bitcoin Club and an organizer for the MIT Freedom Tech Expo, told me in an interview about how a friend of his who is a social worker in Nepa...

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<p>One month ago, Harshvardhan (“Hash”), an alumni of the MIT Bitcoin Club and an organizer for the MIT Freedom Tech Expo, told me in an interview about how a friend of his who is a social worker in Nepal and who was on the ground during the recent protests in the country <em>doesn’t</em> like Bitcoin.</p>
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<p>“There’s a lot of people with left-leaning ideology who still think bitcoin is a capitalistic tool, and they’re not very comfortable with it yet,” explained Hash.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking a lot about this point he made since we spoke.</p>
<p>As someone who was formerly more politically Liberal, I still have a lot of friends and acquaintances who seemingly shudder at the mere thought of my writing about Bitcoin for a living. I get the feeling that they think I’ve become some right-wing fanatic who only cares about money.</p>
<p>I can see why they might think that (despite it not being true). In the U.S., Bitcoin has very much become synonymous with the Trump administration and most of what the average person sees about it in the mainstream media is reporting on its price going up or down.</p>
<p>Put another way, if you’re not intentionally searching for stories about how Bitcoin facilitates financial inclusion, the freedom to transact, and protection from inflation/currency debasement, then you aren’t likely to find them, which means that the average person hardly — if ever — gets exposure to the human rights side of the Bitcoin story.</p>
<p>And so if you’re looking for some examples or thoughts to share with friends of yours who may be on the political left and don’t like Bitcoin as a result, I’ve included a few below:</p>
<h2>Financial Inclusion</h2>
<p>One of the most powerful stories of Bitcoin enabling financial inclusion is the story playing out in the informal settlement (i.e., slum) of Kenya’s Kibera right now.</p>
<p>Kibera is the largest informal settlement in Africa, and thanks to the hands-on work that Afribit Kibera is doing to educate members of the Kibera community about how to use Bitcoin, more and more of Kenya’s poorest and most financially vulnerable have been brought into the digital economy and are saving for the first time in their lives.</p>
<p>The story of the work Afribit Kibera is doing was highlighted in a recent segment by the BBC:</p>
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<p>One of the points not mentioned in this segment, though, is that many of the residents of Kibera are refugees from other African nations and are currently ineligible for a national ID.</p>
<p>Without a national ID, these residents cannot use M-Pesa, a digital payments system that’s ubiquitous in Kenya.</p>
<p>However, with a Bitcoin Lightning wallet and Tando, a homegrown Kenyan app that enables payment in bitcoin and settlement in Kenyan shillings, these members of the community can take part in the digital economy, as neither require Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. (Yes, I know, some custodial Lightning wallets require varying degrees of KYC, but noncustodial Lightning wallets don’t.)</p>
<h2>Freedom to Transact</h2>
<p>Most of us in the West take for granted our freedom to transact over digital payment rails like PayPal, CashApp, or Revolut, which means we haven’t had much reason to think about how devastating it would be if our accounts via those services, or our bank accounts, were frozen or shut down.</p>
<p>However, activists and dissidents around the world, especially those living under authoritarian regimes, see their accounts closed often when they speak out against the powers that be. Debanking people or organizations that challenge the power of authoritarian rulers has become one of the first moves in the dictator’s playbook.</p>
<p>One of the most flagrant cases of this is when the Putin regime shut down the bank accounts of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.</p>
<p>With that said, we also saw a wave of debanking in the United States under the Biden administration. During Operation Choke Point 2.0, the Biden administration debanked a number of Bitcoin and crypto companies, seemingly for no reason other than that they were politically out of favor.</p>
<p>This proves that, while the banking system and fintech companies are technically still private institutions, it only takes a certain amount of pressure from the powers that be — even democratically-elected officials — to stop people and companies from being able to transact.</p>
<p>In her book <em>Broken Money</em>, Lyn Alden highlights the importance of bitcoin as it pertains to this issue.</p>
<p>She states that “self-custodial financial services force governments to actually charge people with a crime before they can use pressure to freeze their accounts.”</p>
<p>Alden added that Bitcoin is bigger than political ideology in this regard.</p>
<p>“[Bitcoin] is not a ‘right or left’ issue, because one merely needs to imagine their least-favorite politician winning the next election, or two or three elections from now,” she wrote.</p>
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<em>Lyn Alden’s </em>Broken Money<em>: A very important read no matter which side of the political divide you’re on.</em>
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<h2>Freedom from Inflation</h2>
<p>Many who are unfamiliar with Bitcoin, don’t understand the significance of its capped supply (There will only ever be 21 million bitcoin).</p>
<p>A perfectly finite supply of money contrasts starkly with fiat currencies, which have no supply cap. Fiat currencies can be printed to no end, which devalues the time and labor of the users of these currencies.</p>
<p>Those of us living in the United States have felt the pain of this currency debasement, as inflation levels have been notably high here. However, it’s important to note that the U.S. dollar is essentially the prettiest pig in the pen when it comes to fiat currencies.</p>
<p>Most other currencies are being debased at a more alarming rate, with the most severe instances of this being what has happened in countries such as Venezuela, Lebanon, Argentina, and Turkey.</p>
<p>This is why when Sabina Waithira, one of the co-founders of the aforementioned Tando, teaches university students in Kenya about bitcoin, she highlights that it offers freedom from inflation. </p>
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<p>Last week at the University of Nairobi, Chiromo campus, we spoke with computer science students about how Bitcoin offers true freedom. Freedom from inflation, freedom form high fees, and an open financial system for all. At Tando, we’ve made it possible to hold that freedom in… pic.twitter.com/B09YpK1GWT</p>
— Tando (@tando_me) April 21, 2025</blockquote>
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<p>This sort of freedom is particularly important in a country with a currency that has been inflating at levels as high as 14% annually since the mid-2000s.</p>
<h2>Bitcoin Is Politically Neutral</h2>
<p>Since Bitcoin is an open protocol and isn’t governed by one person or institution, it isn’t inherently political.</p>
<p>Sure, the Trump administration has taken a pro-Bitcoin stance, which may be offputting to those on the political left, but that doesn’t mean Bitcoin doesn’t facilitate notions like financial inclusion, an issue that Liberal politicians tend to support.</p>
<p>So, if your politics are more aligned with Liberal ideology, be sure to check out the work of The Progressive Bitcoiner nonprofit as well as Jason Maier’s <em>A Progressive’s Case for Bitcoin</em>.</p>
<p>And if you find yourself politically homeless but still a proponent for human rights as they’re enabled by Bitcoin, be sure to learn more about what the Human Rights Foundation is doing via its Financial Freedom division and subscribe to its Financial Freedom newsletter.</p>
<p>Bitcoin is a tool for all human beings — those across the spectrum of the political right and left — and it’s high time that this message becomes more widespread.</p>
<p>This post Bitcoin Transcends the Left-Right Political Divide — It’s a Tool for Human Rights first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Frank Corva.</p>

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Bitcoin Transcends the Left-Right Political Divide — It’s a Tool for Human Rights

一個月前，麻省理工學院比特幣俱樂部的校友、麻省理工學院自由科技博覽會的組織者 Harshvardhan（“Hash”）在一次採訪中告訴我，他的一位在尼泊爾擔任社會工作者的朋友……

<div><div><p/><p>一個月前，麻省理工學院比特幣俱樂部的校友、麻省理工學院自由科技博覽會的組織者 Harshvardhan（“Hash”）在一次採訪中告訴我，他的一位朋友<em>不</em>喜歡比特幣。這位朋友是尼泊爾的一名社會工作者，最近在尼泊爾發生了抗議活動。</p><adv/><adv/><div><div><div><iframe/></div></div></div><p>哈希解釋道：“許多具有左翼思想的人仍然認為比特幣是一種資本主義工具，他們對此還不是很滿意。”</p><p>自從我們交談以來，我一直在思考他提出的這一點。</p><p>作為一個曾經在政治上更傾向於自由主義的人，我仍然有很多朋友和熟人，一想到我靠寫比特幣文章謀生，就感到不寒而慄。我感覺他們覺得我變成了一個只關心金錢的右翼狂熱分子。</p><p>我理解他們為什麼會這麼想（儘管事實並非如此）。在美國，比特幣幾乎成了特朗普政府的代名詞，普通民眾在主流媒體上看到的關於比特幣的報道大多是其價格的漲跌。</p><p>換句話說，如果你不刻意尋找有關比特幣如何促進金融包容性、交易自由以及如何防止通貨膨脹/貨幣貶值的故事，那麼你就不可能找到它們，這意味著普通人幾乎（如果有的話）不會接觸到比特幣故事的人權方面。</p><p>因此，如果您正在尋找一些例子或想法與可能屬於政治左派並因此不喜歡比特幣的朋友分享，我在下面列出了一些：</p><h2>金融包容性</h2><p>比特幣實現金融包容性的最有力的故事之一就是目前在肯尼亞基貝拉非正規住區（即貧民窟）上演的故事。</p><p>基貝拉是非洲最大的非正式定居點，由於 Afribit Kibera 為教育基貝拉社區成員如何使用比特幣所做的實際工作，越來越多肯尼亞最貧困和最經濟脆弱的人們已經融入數字經濟，並且有生以來第一次開始儲蓄。</p><p>英國廣播公司 (BBC) 最近在一期節目中重點介紹了 Afribit Kibera 所開展的工作：</p><div><div><div><iframe/></div></div></div><p>然而，本部分沒有提到的一點是，基貝拉的許多居民都是來自其他非洲國家的難民，目前沒有資格獲得國民身份證。</p><p>由於沒有國民身份證，這些居民無法使用肯尼亞普遍使用的數字支付系統 M-Pesa。</p><p>然而，有了比特幣閃電錢包和 Tando（一款支持比特幣支付和肯尼亞先令結算的肯尼亞本土應用），這些社區成員就可以參與數字經濟，因為兩者都不需要“瞭解你的客戶”（KYC）審核。（是的，我知道，一些託管式閃電錢包需要不同程度的 KYC，但非託管式閃電錢包不需要。）</p><h2>交易自由</h2><p>我們西方大多數人認為通過 PayPal、CashApp 或 Revolut 等數字支付渠道進行交易的自由是理所當然的，這意味著我們沒有太多理由去考慮如果我們通過這些服務開設的賬戶或我們的銀行賬戶被凍結或關閉，將會帶來多麼嚴重的破壞。</p><p>然而，世界各地的活動人士和異見人士，尤其是那些生活在獨裁政權下的人士，在公開反對當權者時，他們的賬戶常常被關閉。切斷那些挑戰獨裁統治者權力的個人或組織的銀行賬戶，已經成為獨裁者手中的首要手段之一。</p><p>其中最令人髮指的案例之一是普京政權關閉了反對派領導人阿列克謝·納瓦爾尼的反腐敗基金會的銀行賬戶。</p><p>話雖如此，我們也看到了拜登政府執政期間美國掀起了一波“去銀行化”浪潮。在“扼殺點行動2.0”期間，拜登政府關閉了多家比特幣和加密貨幣公司的銀行賬戶，似乎除了政治上不受青睞之外沒有任何理由。</p><p>這證明，雖然銀行系統和金融科技公司在技術上仍然是私人機構，但只要當權者（甚至是民選官員）施加一定壓力，就能阻止個人和公司進行交易。</p><p>在她的書<em>《破碎的金錢</em>》中，Lyn Alden 強調了比特幣在這個問題上的重要性。</p><p>她表示，“自我託管金融服務迫使政府在施加壓力凍結人們的賬戶之前，必須真正指控他們犯罪。”</p><p>奧爾登補充說，在這方面，比特幣比政治意識形態更重要。</p><p>她寫道：“（比特幣）不是一個‘左右’問題，因為人們只需要想象他們最不喜歡的政治家贏得下次選舉，或者從現在起的兩三次選舉。” </p><div><img src="https://cnews24.ru/uploads/d5b/d5b465f2db46e19e52fb3164b8fd3efedd192dfe.jpg"/><div><em>林恩·奧爾登 (Lyn Alden) 的</em>《破碎的金錢<em>》：無論你站在政治立場的哪一邊，這都是一本非常重要的讀物。</em></div></div><h2>擺脫通貨膨脹</h2><p>許多不熟悉比特幣的人不瞭解其供應上限的意義（比特幣的數量永遠只有 2100 萬）。</p><p>貨幣供應量完全有限，這與沒有供應上限的法定貨幣形成了鮮明對比。法定貨幣可以無限印製，這會導致其使用者的時間和勞動價值貶值。</p><p>我們這些生活在美國的人都感受到了貨幣貶值的痛苦，因為這裡的通貨膨脹率一直很高。然而，值得注意的是，在法定貨幣中，美元本質上是豬圈裡最漂亮的豬。</p><p>大多數其他貨幣正在以更驚人的速度貶值，其中最嚴重的例子是委內瑞拉、黎巴嫩、阿根廷和土耳其等國家。</p><p>這就是為什麼當上述 Tando 聯合創始人之一 Sabina Waithira 向肯尼亞大學生講授比特幣時，她強調比特幣可以免於通貨膨脹。</p><div><div><blockquote><p>上週，在內羅畢大學奇羅莫校區，我們與計算機科學專業的學生探討了比特幣如何帶來真正的自由。它能免於通貨膨脹，免於高額手續費，併為所有人提供一個開放的金融體系。在Tando，我們讓這種自由成為可能……pic.twitter.com/B09YpK1GWT</p> — Tando (@tando_me) 2025 年 4 月 21 日</blockquote></div></div><p>對於一個貨幣自 2000 年代中期以來年通貨膨脹率高達 14% 的國家來說，這種自由尤為重要。</p><h2>比特幣在政治上是中立的</h2><p>由於比特幣是一種開放協議，不受個人或機構的管理，因此它本質上不具有政治性。</p><p>當然，特朗普政府採取了支持比特幣的立場，這可能會讓左翼政治人士感到不快，但這並不意味著比特幣不會促進金融包容性等概念，而自由派政客傾向於支持這一問題。</p><p>因此，如果您的政治觀點更符合自由主義意識形態，請務必查看非營利組織“進步比特幣者”的作品以及 Jason Maier 的<em>《進步比特幣案例》</em> 。</p><p>如果您發現自己在政治上無家可歸，但仍然是比特幣所賦予的人權的支持者，請務必通過其金融自由部門瞭解人權基金會正在做的事情，並訂閱其金融自由通訊。</p><p>比特幣是全人類的工具——無論政治立場是左派還是右派——現在是時候讓這一信息得到更廣泛的傳播了。</p><p>這篇文章《比特幣超越左右政治分歧——它是人權的工具》首次出現在《比特幣雜誌》上，作者是弗蘭克·科瓦 (Frank Corva)。</p></div></div>

比特幣超越了左右政治分歧——它是人權的工具

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