The world’s reserve currency relies on oil, dictators, inequality and the military-industrial complex. But a Bitcoin standard could change this.
Category Archives: Essays
Bitcoin is a Trojan Horse for Freedom
While bitcoin is powerful Number Go Up technology that appeals to self interest, it’s also creating fortresses against authority in cyberspace
Can Governments Stop Bitcoin?
Since its creation more than 12 years ago, Bitcoin is undefeated. Its price has leaped from $5 to $50 to $500 to $5,000 to now past $50,000. The number of global users has eclipsed 100 million. The system’s network security, number of developers, and new applications are at all-time highs. Dozens of companies including Tesla and Square have started toContinue reading “Can Governments Stop Bitcoin?”
In the Fight Against Extremism, Don’t Demonize Surveillance-Busting Tools like Signal and Bitcoin
Secure messaging app Signal is one of the top downloads on Apple Store and Google Play platforms in several countries.
COVID-19 and the Normalization of Mass Surveillance
In the past few months, governments ranging from Australia to the United Kingdom and corporations as influential as Google and Apple have pushed the idea that cellphone tracking can be used to effectively fight COVID-19. There was even an essay here at Quillette, arguing that a mandatory phone tracking app would save lives while also saving jobs as aContinue reading “COVID-19 and the Normalization of Mass Surveillance”
Dictatorships Are Making the Coronavirus Outbreak Worse
China, Iran, North Korea, and other authoritarian regimes have concealed information and exacerbated the spread of the disease.
A World Without Bitcoin
Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, reads his essay, A World Without Bitcoin.
A Human Rights Activist Explains Bitcoin’s Importance
When people think about Bitcoin, they often think about neo-goldbugs who hate inflation and the Federal Reserve. But beyond the financial case for it, there’s a moral, human rights case as well. On this week’s podcast, we talk with Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation. He explains why he sees Bitcoin as an essential tool in his fight for human rights all around the world.
How Bitcoin Can Protect Free Speech in the Digital Age
Think about what happens when you buy a newspaper at a local cafe with cash. The shopkeeper takes your paper money, and gives you the item. They don’t know your name, address, phone number, email, or what you bought yesterday. They are not collecting any data about you. Until now, this level of financial privacy was perfectly normal.
Dissidents and Activists Have a Lot to Gain From Bitcoin, if Only They Knew It
This post is part of CoinDesk’s 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Alex Gladstein is Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation and Vice President of Strategy for the Oslo Freedom Forum since its inception in 2009.
alexgladstein.com 