Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money: HRF’s Latest Contribution to the Journal of Democracy

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced the publication of a powerful new essay by Alex Gladstein, HRF’s Chief Strategy Officer, titled “Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money,” in the October 2025 issue of the Journal of Democracy (Volume 36, Number 4, Johns Hopkins University Press).

In this thought-provoking piece, Gladstein explores how Bitcoin serves as a tool of financial freedom in authoritarian societies, where governments often weaponize banking systems to surveil, silence, and punish dissent. In many such regimes, activists, journalists, and civil society groups are denied access to traditional financial channels, making it nearly impossible to fund essential human rights work.

Drawing on real-world examples from Nigeria, Cuba, Russia, Togo, and beyond, the essay demonstrates how Bitcoin enables individuals to transact freely, securely, and beyond the reach of state control, offering a lifeline to those resisting repression. Gladstein argues that in an age where governments can track, freeze, or devalue citizens’ money with a click or algorithm, decentralized digital currencies represent a new frontier of human rights and autonomy.

He writes:

“What you spend says more about you than what you say. Governments can see who buys what, who pays whom, and who donates to which cause. Enemies of the state can be shuttered with the arbitrary click of a button—no court warrant needed.”

The essay also highlights the destructive economic policies of authoritarian leaders—such as Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose repeated devaluations of the Egyptian pound have eroded public welfare—underscoring how Bitcoin offers citizens an alternative to manipulated and collapsing state currencies.

Read the full essay here: Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights globally, with a particular focus on closed societies. Through advocacy, education, and innovative initiatives like this, HRF continues to illuminate how technology can safeguard the most fundamental of freedoms — including the right to think, speak, and transact without fear.