The Honorable Charles E. Schumer
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
Chairwoman
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable John Boozman
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Sherrod Brown
Chairman
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Patrick J. Toomey
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 2051
The Honorable Ron Wyden
Chairman
Senate Committee on Finance
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Mike Crapo
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Finance
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Maxine Waters
Chairwoman
House Financial Services Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Patrick McHenry
Ranking Member
House Financial Services Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear U.S. Congressional Leadership, Committee Chairs and Ranking Members,
We are 21 human rights advocates from 20 countries across the globe who have dedicated ourselves to the struggle for freedom and democracy. In this struggle, we have relied on Bitcoin and dollar instruments known as stablecoins, as have tens of millions of others living under authoritarian regimes or unstable economies.
Bitcoin provides financial inclusion and empowerment because it is open and permissionless. Anyone on earth can use it. Bitcoin and stablecoins offer unparalled access to the global economy for people in countries like Nigeria, Turkey, or Argentina, where local currencies are collapsing, broken, or cut off from the outside world.
We write to urge an open-minded, empathetic approach toward monetary tools that are increasingly playing a role in the lives of people facing political repression and economic hardship. We are not industry financiers or professional lobbyists but humanitarians and democracy advocates who have used Bitcoin to assist people at risk when other options have failed.
You recently received a different letter from a group of critics claiming that cryptocurrency is “unproven” and a solution “in search of problems.” Our problems are real and the proof is in our stories and work.
We can personally attest — as do the enclosed reports from top global media outlets — that when currency catastrophes struck Cuba, Afghanistan, and Venezuela, Bitcoin gave our compatriots refuge. When crackdowns on civil liberties befell Nigeria, Belarus, and Hong Kong, Bitcoin helped keep the fight against authoritarianism afloat. After Russia invaded Ukraine, these technologies (which the critics allege are “not built for purpose”) played a role in sustaining democratic resistance — especially in the first few days, when legacy financial systems faltered.
Unlike most citizens on the planet, nearly all of the authors of the anti-crypto letter are from countries with stable currencies, free speech, and strong property rights. Dollar and euro users have most likely not experienced extreme currency devaluation or the cold grip of dictatorship. To most in the West, the horrors of monetary colonialism, misogynist financial policy, frozen bank accounts, exploitative remittance companies, and an inability to connect to the global economy might be distant ideas. To most of us and our communities — and to the majority of people worldwide — they are daily realities. If there were “far better solutions already in use” to overcome these challenges, we would know.
We do not claim that Bitcoin and stablecoins solve every problem, or that they are entirely positive or without risk. But in contrast to the claims made by the authors of the anti-crypto letter, ample evidence suggests that Bitcoin has and will continue to empower Americans and global citizens in the coming decade, and that—alongside stablecoins—this open and decentralized monetary network will help defy tyranny and strengthen democratic movements abroad.
Most of us dream that our fellow citizens could have access to the dollar or euro systems. But they do not. Bitcoin might not be our plan A, but amidst the failures of legacy financial systems, it is a valuable plan B as a bridge to the global economy and as a counter to the Chinese Communist Party’s model of surveillance and control. To claim that the practical value and future potential of cryptocurrencies “does not exist” denies the lived experience of millions of people like us and our colleagues who have depended on Bitcoin and stablecoins in times of crisis and autocracy.
We strongly recommend that the committees addressed herein research and explore the global value of these technologies, their empirically proven benefits for millions of people, and their potential. The crypto industry is undoubtedly rife with scams, but the solution is not to conflate genuinely useful fintech instruments with harmful crypto schemes. Instead, it is to teach people how to tell the difference. It is very easy to distinguish Bitcoin and the largest stablecoins — which constitute the clear majority of daily cryptocurrency volume and total global market capitalization — as valuable technologies making an impact worldwide. We hope that you and your colleagues do not craft or implement policy that hurts our ability to use these new technologies in our human rights and humanitarian work.
Just as some of us have acted to defend the open web in the past, today we stand to defend an open monetary system. Until now, many of us have been forced to hold broken currencies as our rulers prevented us from accessing dollars. We have paid the price of extortionate international money transfers. We have watched as our dictatorial leaders from Beijing to Moscow tried to ban Bitcoin. We hope you choose a different policy path, one that allows us to save, connect, and gain freedom.
We thank the Congress for its leadership and urge you to weigh our experience and expertise when setting legislative priorities. We are happy to share our stories with you anytime.
Signatories
Ire Aderinokun, Feminist Coalition (Nigeria)
Anna Chekhovich, Anti-Corruption Foundation (Russia)
Fodé Diop (Senegal)
Fadi Elsalameen (Palestine)
Meron Estefanos, Eritrean Initiative on Refugee Rights (Sweden)
Ahmed Gatnash, Kawaakibi Foundation (Norway)
Alex Gladstein, Human Rights Foundation (US)
Ricardo Herrero, Cuba Study Group (US)
Garry Kasparov (Russia)
Lyudmyla Kozlovska, Open Dialogue Foundation (Ukraine)
Jaroslav Likhachevskiy, Belarus Solidarity Foundation (Belarus)
Leopoldo López (Venezuela)
Indira Kempis Martínez (Mexico)
Roya Mahboob, Digital Citizen Fund (Afghanistan)
Evan Mawarire (Zimbabwe)
Faisal Saeed Al Mutar, Ideas Beyond Borders (Iraq)
Farida Nabourema, Togolese Civil League (Togo)
Jose J. Nieves, Colectivo + Voces (Cuba)
Yeonmi Park (North Korea)
Anjan Sundaram (India)
Alp Toker, NetBlocks (UK)
Source: financialinclusion.tech
See also:
- Combating financial exclusion and work of BTC Coalition
- 21 Human Rights Leaders Urge Congress to Learn About Bitcoin (June 7, 2022)
Cover photo: swps.pl
