“Bitcoin as a tool for financial freedom” — Lyudmyla Kozlovska at Plan ₿ Forum 2022

22 October 2022 | Author: Natalia Melnychenko

On 20–21 October 2022, the Plan ₿ Forum explored the theme of financial freedom facilitated by Bitcoin in the Swiss city of Lugano. Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, actively participated in a panel discussion during the event.

The panel, moderated by Farida Nabourema, Executive Director of the Togolese Civil League, also featured distinguished speakers:

Fadi Elsalameen (Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute);
Roya Mahboob (Founder and CEO of Digital Citizen Fund);
Michael Chobanian (Founder and CEO of Blockchain of Ukraine Association, KUNA.io).

Michael Chobanian, a Ukrainian fintech entrepreneur and founder of KUNA — Eastern Europe’s first Bitcoin agency, now a full-fledged cryptocurrency exchange with more than 450,000 users worldwide — was the first speaker. He recounted the crucial role played by Bitcoin in facilitating the swift procurement and delivery of aid to soldiers and civilians during the early days of the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war:

“From the first moment of the invasion, we at KUNA decided to act quickly to help our army and the people who were most affected by these horrific events. In partnership with the Ukrainian government, our team launched the official Crypto Fund of Ukraine to seek donations in cryptocurrencies. Funds raised are being used to purchase much-needed medical supplies, military equipment and humanitarian aid in Ukraine. Bitcoin made it possible to make transactions within 30 minutes, while the traditional way took eight days,” emphasised Chobanian, whose fund has so far raised more than USD 60 million in donations for Ukraine.

Roya Mahboob, founder and CEO of the Digital Citizen Fund, spoke next, explaining how Bitcoin has become in tool to support financial independence for women in her country Afghanistan:

“Bitcoin allowed the organisation to overcome physical and social barriers to paying Afghan women. With a simple transaction, Bitcoin was able to instantly appear in a woman’s digital wallet, without interference from men. As the Digital Citizen Fund, our aim was to cultivate practical skills and bolster women’s self-reliance, dismantling traditional cultural barriers that confined them to domestic responsibilities. Bitcoin has provided a crucial financial lifeline for many in these difficult times, who remain in the country and continue to work behind closed doors,” she said.

The next speaker, Fadi Elsalameen, a Palestinian anti-corruption activist and adjunct professor at the American Security Project and the Bitcoin Policy Institute in the US, outlined the reasons why Bitcoin began to be used by Palestinians excluded from the financial system. Elsalameen personally experienced the Palestinian Authority’s abuse of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism laws when his accounts were frozen by the Bank of Palestine in 2021, which then revealed his details to a newspaper owned by the terrorist organisation Hezbollah.

“Over the past eight years, the Palestinian Authority has gained de facto full control over the local banking system. As a result, [it controls] access to banking for journalists, critics and dissidents through the abuse of anti-money laundering (AML/CFT) and anti-terrorism laws,” he said.

The time had come for the President of ODF, who became — like the Foundation itself — a victim of the PiS government and its subordinate services after she began taking action to defend the rule of law in Poland. During her speech, she explained the process of excluding her and the Foundation from the financial system and how Bitcoin helped organise humanitarian aid to Ukraine after the Russian military incursion in February 2022.

“Between 2019 and 2021, two Belgian banks terminated their contracts with our Foundation and placed it on their blacklists, while virtually all other banks in Belgium rejected such a request. A year later, our personal accounts were closed. In 2022, the money transfer platform Wise closed ODF’s account, presumably due to our activities on behalf of Ukraine, which raised concerns and associations with the armed conflict there. Since then, our Foundation has not been able to open accounts with other Belgian or foreign banks, effectively depriving us of access to banks. Despite Belgium’s efforts, no effective legal solution was found. Bitcoin came to the rescue,” she explained.

Lyudmyla Kozlovska emphasised the importance of unity and cooperation in the fight to ensure that EU regulators provide remedies and prevent abuses of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules and to support civil society activists using Bitcoin and stablecoins to fight financial exclusion, political oppression and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

We invite you to watch the entire panel discussion:

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Cover photo: Lugano Plan B/YouTube