HRF Supports 16 Projects to Promote Bitcoin Infrastructure in Authoritarian Regimes

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced support for 16 projects across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The HRF's Bitcoin Development Fund is providing over $396,000 in grants to these projects, with a total of more than 500 million satoshis.

These grants aim to strengthen the Bitcoin protocol, expand practical Bitcoin access, and facilitate secure messaging and community infrastructure for dissidents. The HRF believes that Bitcoin can play a crucial role in promoting financial freedom, particularly in authoritarian regimes where censorship and repression are prevalent.

One of the projects receiving funding is BitSpenda, a mobile money-to-bitcoin bridge that allows users to send bitcoin directly from a Lightning wallet to a mobile money account. With HRF's support, BitSpenda plans to expand its payment tools to make cross-border payments faster and more accessible in Africa.

Another project, Project Island Resilience, aims to build practical Bitcoin infrastructure that can be used during protests and internet shutdowns. This includes adding offline payments to the Flash wallet using Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), and ecash.