In real life: Bitcoin for liberty

Reports in the Telegraph this week make chilling reading about the power of the state to intervene in our private lives.

At first glance it reads like a John le Carre novel, as shown by the extract below:

“A Russian spymaster was in talks with a UN official and European leaders over payment cards which would have allowed him to track refugees.

Jan Marsalek was involved in plans to develop a card for the payment of benefits or aid which would have provided a “treasure trove” of data on the movements of people fleeing their home countries.

At the time of discussion in 2019, Marsalek was chief operating officer of Wirecard, the Germany payments processor. It has since emerged that he was also working for the Kremlin and running surveillance operations on enemies of the Russian state.

The information available on the card would be “invaluable” to the intelligence services and could allow hostile states such as Iran and Russia to track dissidents, security experts have said.”

But this is not just about those who are forced to flee their homelands.  It is about all of us where and if state controlled forms of finance are used, for example in countries which implement and/or mandate the use of CBDCs.

The alternative is blindingly obvious and it’s bitcoin.  Bitcoin can be used to transfer assets and off-ramp into cash, if needed, when in a place of safety.

For everyone, regardless of residence in a democracy or a totalitarian state, Bitcoin provides a route of hope.  It allows financial privacy, financial freedom and liberty.

Claire Cummings

Founder and CEO

The Centre forDigital Assets and Democracy (CDAD)