Why should human rights defenders be protected from AML/CFT abuses by authoritarian authorities?

Why should human rights defenders be protected from AML/CFT abuses by authoritarian authorities?

On 8 December 2023, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation participated in the panel discussion “Regulation as an Opportunity” at the Digital Finance Summit in Brussels. Lyudmyla Kozlovska gave a presentation on the consequences of the misuse of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. The event, moderated by journalist Jimmy Franklin and Toon Vanagt, CEO […]

Behind the glass wall. How to turn a dissident into a terrorist and a fraudster

Behind the glass wall. How to turn a dissident into a terrorist and a fraudster

Russia is threatened with exclusion from the international system of combating money laundering. The issue of Russia’s inclusion on the blacklist of the organisation in question – the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) – was considered at Ukraine’s request at a recent FATF session. The decision has not yet been made, but it may be […]

”Bitcoin is borderless” Conference — how to combat financial exclusion worldwide?

”Bitcoin is borderless” Conference — how to combat financial exclusion worldwide?

Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), participated in the Bitcoin Amsterdam Conference, which took place from 12 to 14 October 2023. During the panel discussion at the conference Bitcoin is borderless, she shared her story of how Bitcoin allowed her to fight for human rights, help Ukraine during the war, and deal […]

Open Dialogue Foundation at the 2023 OSCE WHDC

Open Dialogue Foundation at the 2023 OSCE WHDC

Like every year, ODF took an active part in the OSCE’s Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. Unlike in 2022 we didn’t just focus the assembly’s attention on rule of law challenges in Poland, but also presented our findings on financial exclusion stemming from the abuse of AML/CFT laws by authoritarian states. The Warsaw Human Dimension Conference […]

“AML/CFT regulations are an open door for abuse” – Lyudmyla Kozlovska at the FATF Global Conference

“AML/CFT regulations are an open door for abuse” – Lyudmyla Kozlovska at the FATF Global Conference

Between March and July 2023, the EU AML/CFT Global Facility co-hosted and sponsored a series of regional consultations for nonprofit organisations (NPOs), FATF Regional Style Bodies, and Financial Intelligence Units with the aim of collecting, documenting, and analysing practices of meaningful engagement between the NPO sector and relevant (inter)governmental stakeholders. On 26-27 September 2023 in […]

TABConf2023: Bitcoin against transnational persecution

TABConf2023: Bitcoin against transnational persecution

From 6 to 9 September 2023, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation Lyudmyla Kozlovska took part in the ‘TABConf2023 — A Technical Bitcoin Conference‘ in the US city of Atlanta. As part of the event, she gave an interview to the largest educational platform dedicated to Bitcoin — Area Bitcoin Education.  “I am here […]

How to engage in dialogue with regulators to scale up Bitcoin deployment

How to engage in dialogue with regulators to scale up Bitcoin deployment

The EU has become one of the first jurisdictions to introduce comprehensive regulations on crypto-assets. Ukraine has announced its ambition to become a “pioneer” in implementing the European version of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, MiCA. As the third country in the world in terms of cryptocurrency usage, Ukraine has been working on the regulation […]

Why AML/CFT regulations are no solution. Lyudmyla Kozlovska at BTC Prague 2023

Why AML/CFT regulations are no solution. Lyudmyla Kozlovska at BTC Prague 2023

President of the Open Dialogue Foundation Lyudmyla Kozlovska participated in the largest and most influential event dedicated to Bitcoin in Europe — BTC Prague 2023, which was held in June in the Czech capital. On the first day of the conference, 8 June 2023, she spoke on the panel ‘Regulations Are Not The Solution‘, which […]

Insightful panel discussion during Industry day at BTC Prague 2023

Insightful panel discussion during Industry day at BTC Prague 2023

(…) The event included an interesting panel entitled “Regulations Are Not The Solution”. The three speakers included: Jan Procházka, attorney at law and partner at Deloitte Legal, Giacomo Zucco, Bitcoin entrepreneur and consultant, and Lyudmyla Kozlovska, human rights activist and Bitcoin promoter. The panel was moderated by journalist and podcaster Bill Wirtz. At the beginning […]

Bitcoin the basis for freedom: panel discussion at BTC Prague conference

Bitcoin the basis for freedom: panel discussion at BTC Prague conference

At the beginning of June 2023, the President of the Open Dialogue Foundation Lyudmyla Kozlovska moderated the panel discussion Bitcoin Is Justice at the annual conference BTC Prague — Europe’s most important event dedicated to Bitcoin. The panellists shared their experiences of financial exclusion and gave examples of how Bitcoin helps to fight oppressive regimes […]

How does Bitcoin support Ukraine? Lyudmyla Kozlovska explains at CoinDesk Consensus 2023 conference

How does Bitcoin support Ukraine? Lyudmyla Kozlovska explains at CoinDesk Consensus 2023 conference

From political dissidents to conflict refugees to people without formal identification, centralised financial platforms have excluded a swath of disfavoured, but not necessarily criminal, user categories. To what degree is crypto a viable alternative for financially excluded individuals and organisations? Lyudmyla Kozlovska, President of the Open Dialogue Foundation, answered this question at the CoinDesk Consensus […]

New cryptocurrency regulations will hurt NGOs and whistleblowers

New cryptocurrency regulations will hurt NGOs and whistleblowers

Members of the European Parliament have voted on the first regulatory framework that will directly affect cryptocurrencies. The Czech Pirate Party opposed the proposal, claiming that it would lead to mandatory registration or identification of cryptocurrency owners. This will pose a problem, for example, for the funding of dissidents such as Russian opposition figure Alexei […]

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