Financial Freedom Report #117
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- GLOBAL NEWS
- RECOMMENDED CONTENT
- BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS
- BITCOIN RECOMMENDED CONTENT
Welcome to this week’s Financial Freedom Report.
We start in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the country’s central bank has announced plans to ban cash transactions in US dollars and other foreign currencies starting in April 2027. The proposal would force more financial activity into the local banking system, and comes as the regime pushes greater use of the collapsing Congolese franc, despite its long decline and weak public trust.
In freedom tech news, we highlight Bitmsika, a new Bitcoin payments bridge in Malawi that lets users pay for everyday goods and services in local kwacha using bitcoin. Similar to tools like Tando in Kenya, it shows how Bitcoin can serve as a payment infrastructure while merchants receive local currency.
We also include a talk from Russian human rights defender Anna Chekhovich, who explains how Bitcoin became essential to sustaining opposition work after the Kremlin froze her organization’s bank accounts. Her story illustrates how Bitcoin can help activists continue operating when authoritarian regimes weaponize financial systems against human rights defenders.
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GLOBAL NEWS
DRC | Central Bank To Ban Foreign Currency Activity
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s central bank says it will ban all cash transactions in US dollars and other foreign currencies starting April 9, 2027. Commercial banks would also be barred from physically importing foreign banknotes. However, foreign-currency transactions will still be allowed electronically through the banking system, where they can more easily be surveilled and controlled. The move appears to be part of a renewed push to force greater use of the Congolese franc, which has lost about 60% of its value since 2010. It also follows a 2024 order requiring banks and financial institutions to configure electronic payment terminals to accept only Congolese francs.
Why this matters: In a country where many people trust the dollar more than the local currency and more than 90% of bank deposits are held in dollars, banning foreign currency reduces people’s ability to protect themselves from broken money.
Iran | Regime Moves To Seize Assets as Internet Blackout Exceeds 1,000 Hours
In Iran, the regime has ordered the identification and seizure of assets of more than 100 citizens living abroad, including freezing their bank accounts. Those targeted reportedly include journalists, media workers, public figures, and other Iranians accused of supporting opposition groups from outside the country. The move comes as Iran’s regime-imposed internet blackout stretches beyond 43 days, leaving millions unable to access independent information and largely cut off from the outside world.
Why this matters: Freezing assets and imposing internet shutdowns help the state isolate critics, obscure its human rights violations, and make it harder for Iranians to communicate, organize, or respond against the regime.
India | New NGO Asset Seizure Bill and Payment Delay Proposal Expand State Financial Control
India has proposed a new amendment to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act that would give the government greater control over how non-governmental organizations receive and manage foreign funding. The amendment includes measures to seize assets if an NGO’s license is revoked and enforces strict deadlines for the receipt and use of foreign contributions. Separately, India’s central bank is considering new anti-fraud rules that would slow down certain digital payments, such as a mandatory one-hour delay for some bank transfers above 10,000 rupees (approximately $120), and extra verification requirements for larger transactions.
Why this matters: For NGOs, the proposed law raises the risk that funding restrictions could escalate into direct asset seizure. For the broader public, added delays and approval layers in payments could make digital money more conditional and easier to interrupt.
Vietnam | Central Bank Terminates Account Aliases and Nicknames
Vietnam’s central bank has ended the use of account aliases and personalized nicknames that let users receive money without sharing their bank account numbers. This follows a mandate that all payment account names must match the official details on a person’s national ID. Payment service providers are now required to ensure each transaction corresponds to these registered details.
Why this matters: Removing custom account names makes financial privacy weaker by linking transactions more closely to state-verified identity. This is particularly dangerous in an authoritarian regime like Vietnam.
Hungary | Orbán Ousted After 16 Years in Power
Hungarian voters have ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán after 16 years in power. Opposition leader Péter Magyar won on a platform centered on combating current corruption, democratic renewal, and rebuilding Hungary’s ties with Europe. The result comes after years in which Orbán leveraged state power to erode media freedom and democratic institutions. He also increased control over financial life. His government pushed to expand control of the central bank, proposed laws targeting foreign-funded civil society groups, and enacted harsh digital asset regulations that criminalized basic Bitcoin activity and limited alternatives to the traditional banking system.
RECOMMENDED CONTENT
Financial Freedom Against Tyranny with Anna Chekhovich
In this talk at HRF’s College Freedom Forum, Russian political activist and Anti-Corruption Foundation Financial Director Anna Chekhovich shares a firsthand account of how Bitcoin became critical to sustaining opposition efforts under the authoritarian rule of Vladimir Putin. After the Kremlin froze the organization’s bank accounts, cutting off access to funds, the organization turned to Bitcoin to continue operating, pay staff, and fund activism despite efforts by a dictatorship to prevent it.
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Join Us at the 18th Annual Oslo Freedom Forum
Join HRF this year at the 18th annual Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), hosted in Oslo, Norway, from June 1–3. This year’s OFF theme of “Dismantling Dictatorship” celebrates the activists, thinkers, technologists, and artists who take tyranny apart with ingenuity, creativity, and solidarity. Together, we celebrate stories of courage and explore bold ideas to advance freedom and unleash human potential through innovative solutions. On June 2, the Freedom Tech track will explore how tools like Bitcoin, offline messaging like Bitchat, decentralized communication protocols like Nostr, and open-source AI are helping human rights defenders resist repression.
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BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS
Bitmsika | Bitcoin Payments Bridge in Malawi
Bitmsika is a new Bitcoin payments bridge in Malawi that allows users to pay for daily goods and services in the local kwacha using Bitcoin. The platform offers features such as money transfers, bill payments, and QR code scanning for payments. It works similarly to tools like Tando in Kenya, where Bitcoin is integrated into local financial infrastructure and used as a payment rail, allowing merchants to receive local currency while the user spends bitcoin. In doing so, Bitmsika can help make bitcoin a more usable currency in daily life in Malawi, helping people reduce reliance on the weak kwacha and increasingly politicized financial system.
Evento | Self-Custodial Bitcoin Payments Integrated into Event Platform
Evento, an event platform built on Nostr and integrated with Bitcoin, launched version 2.0 of its app. It introduces a built-in self-custodial Bitcoin and Lightning wallet that allows users to send and receive bitcoin. With the addition, Evento provides its users with direct control over a financial freedom tool. This will make it easier to conduct uncensorable payments and save money free from authoritarian interference. Evento, popular in countries like Nigeria, now also supports zaps (Bitcoin micropayments), which let users instantly send bitcoin to speakers, organizers, or other participants from event pages or profiles.
Why this matters: With the addition of a native Bitcoin wallet, Evento makes Bitcoin a more seamless part of coordination and community building on the platform. For civil society, this enables organizers and users to save and exchange value directly.
Flash | Spark Integration Introduced
Flash Wallet, Jamaica’s first native Bitcoin app, released v0.5, which now features Spark integration. Spark is a payment layer built on Bitcoin that enhances transaction speed and simplifies payments for users. The update also expands merchant access to over 12,700 locations by adding the full BTC Map network, a crowdsourced global directory of Bitcoin-accepting merchants and communities. Additionally, Flash (which is growing into a user base including several authoritarian countries in the region) now includes integrated Nostr functionality, allowing users to connect an identity, post notes, and send zaps directly within the app.
Nunchuk | New Tool Lets AI Use Bitcoin Under Human Limits
Nunchuk, a Bitcoin multisignature wallet, introduced a new tool that lets users create Bitcoin wallets shared with an artificial intelligence (AI) agent. An AI agent is a software program that autonomously performs tasks and makes decisions on a user’s behalf. With this new feature, instead of giving an AI agent full control over funds, the system allows users to set spending limits and require human approval for any spending above them. In practice, this means the AI can assist with managing payments or treasury tasks within set boundaries, while, according to Nunchuk, the user keeps ultimate control.
Why this matters: Most AI payment tools require users to trust an agent with extensive authority. Nunchuk’s model separates automation from full control. An AI can handle small, routine transactions, but it cannot empty a wallet or override a user on larger transactions. This structure makes AI-supported bitcoin payments more viable for everyday use.
Stratum V2 | New Dashboard Simplifies Solo Mining
Stratum V2, a protocol that helps decentralize bitcoin mining, released a new user interface that makes it easier for independent miners to monitor and manage their mining setups. The dashboard supports various configurations. This includes solo mining with a personal node, pool mining, and hybrid setups that combine a pool with a user’s own node (a personal copy of the Bitcoin blockchain that independently verifies transactions). It is compatible with older Stratum V1 firmware, meaning miners can connect to newer Stratum V2 pools without upgrading their machines.
Why this matters: Mining is one of the most important parts of keeping Bitcoin open and decentralized. But setting up more independent forms of mining has often been too technical for many users. Tools like this make it easier for small-scale miners to run their own node, choose their own block templates, and reduce dependence on large pools. That helps distribute the network’s processing power and strengthens Bitcoin’s resistance to censorship and central control.
OpenSats | 16th Wave of Nostr Grants Announced
OpenSats, a nonprofit organization funding free and open-source software and projects, announced its 16th wave of grants supporting Nostr, an open, censorship-resistant messaging protocol where users control their own data and identity. Two standout projects for human rights and freedom are Nostr Mail and Amethyst for Desktop. Nostr Mail provides a permissionless email client based on Nostr. Users can send emails tied to Nostr public keys instead of traditional accounts, providing better privacy and resistance to censorship. Meanwhile, Amethyst for Desktop will bring the Nostr client to a desktop platform, making the Nostr protocol more accessible. In concert, these tools empower individuals under authoritarian regimes to communicate when the odds are against them.
BITCOIN RECOMMENDED CONTENT
Bitcoin Has a Golden Opportunity with AI Agents, It’s Time to Build by Matt Corallo
In this article, open-source developer Matt Corallo argues that AI agents could open a rare new path for Bitcoin payments. He believes Bitcoin has a chance to become the native payment rail for machine-to-machine transactions, as issues like chargebacks, fraud prevention, and platform lock-in make traditional payment methods less suitable. But this transformation won’t occur unless developers make it happen.
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