The Human Rights Foundation (nostr:npub17xvf49kht23cddxgw92rvfktkd3vqvjgkgsdexh9847wl0927tqsrhc9as) is pleased to announce 1 billion satoshis in grants from its Bitcoin Development Fund (BDF) (https://hrf.org/devfund). This round of grants supports projects advancing open-source development, censorship-resistant communications, mining decentralization, and financial privacy for the more than 5.9 billion people living under authoritarian regimes. Other grantee projects will improve the core protocol, pilot Bitcoin for dissident support, and provide community education programs across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These efforts strengthen the global freedom technology ecosystem, helping dissidents, journalists, nonprofits, and everyday citizens to connect, organize, and achieve financial sovereignty in the face of repression.

HRF’s grantees for the third quarter of 2025 include:

Nymius

Bitcoin’s transparent ledger is essential to its design, but it also exposes dissidents to surveillance from authoritarian states seeking to monitor transactions and networks. Silent Payments enables individuals to receive Bitcoin through unique, one-time addresses derived from a static public key, but its effectiveness depends on wallet adoption. Nymius, a nostr:npub13dk3dke4zm9vdkucm7f6vv7vhqgkevgg3gju9kr2wzumz7nrykdq0dgnvc contributor, will integrate Silent Payments into the BDK. With this grant, dozens of wallets and applications built with the BDK will be able to offer users greater financial privacy.

Daniela Brozzoni

Bitcoin nodes (computers running the Bitcoin software) reveal user metadata when connecting with one another. This opens the door for regimes or hackers to track or isolate activists and dissidents running Bitcoin nodes. Nostr:npub1yrvghtsv8rnyquneu65rx59fx8n3fuqntcqnaf9pk98ex6mlat2sjk8nmj is a Bitcoin Core developer who has been researching this vulnerability and publishing mitigation proposals to counter the tactics. With this grant, she will gather community feedback and implement fixes to make the network safer.

Build on Bitcoin (BOB) Buidlers Residency

Every day, users often find freedom technologies difficult to use, which limits their accessibility and impact. nostr:npub1vlkx3xr0ulv5l65u4vwr7hknnkge4mwe76dd6gwfjezcffmu03aqpks68j in Bangkok has supported three cohorts of free and open-source developers to advance Bitcoin’s privacy, decentralization, and mining. With HRF’s funding, a fourth cohort of four developers will improve usability across Bitcoin, Lightning, nostr, and ecash, making freedom tech more accessible to those who need it most.

2140 Foundation

Bitcoin developers, especially those in autocratic countries, often struggle with burnout, isolation, and a lack of incentives to complete long-term projects. The 2140 Foundation (https://2140.dev/), founded by open-source developers Josie Baker and Ruben Somsen, is a co-working space in Amsterdam that provides mentorship, collaboration, and employment to global contributors advancing Bitcoin’s long-term security, resilience, and scalability. With HRF funding, the foundation will support the work of developers from authoritarian states to strengthen Bitcoin as a human rights tool.

Cashu for Community Sovereignty

In many parts of Latin America, governments restrict financial flows by blocking payments, freezing accounts, and, at times, disrupting internet access. Cashu for Community Sovereignty, founded by nostr:npub1f0rtesc8yd8utjhpgktlltv4t2rftxd5kmkagt5kymt8946pqf7qe90snx, addresses this with ecash, which enables quick and private payments that even work offline. The initiative will train 10 communities in authoritarian environments to deploy Cashu mints and Lightning Network nodes. With this funding, communities facing repression will develop a stronger infrastructure for financial freedom.

Bhartiya Bitcoin

As India advances a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and financially represses political opposition, Bitcoin offers a path to financial freedom. However, education is often inaccessible to non-English speakers. Bhartiya Bitcoin produces free, culturally relevant Bitcoin content in Hindi, Marwari, Sindhi, and Assamese. With HRF support, Bhartiya Bitcoin will expand into Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam to make Bitcoin more accessible to the more than 1.4 billion people living under increasingly autocratic rule in India.

Bitcoin Education for Lebanon’s Liberty & Empowerment (BELLE)

In Lebanon, a collapsing currency, banking restrictions, and asset confiscations have stripped people of financial stability. The Lebanese Institute for Market Studies (https://limslb.com/?lang=en) is launching BELLE, a project to teach political activists and youth to use Bitcoin to preserve their purchasing power. With HRF support, BELLE will provide Arabic-language workshops, educational videos, and media outreach to strengthen individuals' ability to resist financial repression and secure their financial futures.

Bitcoin Arusha

Tanzania’s government restricts the use of foreign currency and limits dissidents’ banking access, while the local currency depreciates, leaving many citizens trapped in a cycle of poverty. To alleviate this, nostr:npub1uhplusmx9yvpz32dw3stjdrrxnhn7ns5jag637jl2yvmhrwayats68srlr provides culturally rooted, Swahili-language Bitcoin education in northern Tanzania through music, dance, and events. HRF support will strengthen Bitcoin Arusha’s resilience and empower communities through economic opportunities.

Bitcoin for Fairness

Human rights defenders and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) often lack the knowledge to use Bitcoin to bypass repressive financial restrictions. nostr:npub1fqqtc58rx9mslpydp9849pmlh4x8f5m8js399aqanlqjg6v6x9lq5qqzch is an educational initiative that disseminates Bitcoin knowledge to the global majority. In 2026, BFF will focus its initiatives in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Zambia – countries scarred by currency crises and periods of one-party rule – and deliver workshops, micro-seed funding, mentorship, and educator training. With HRF funding, BFF will empower activists and civic organizations in Southern Africa with censorship-resistant, permissionless financial tools.

Exile Hub

Burma’s military junta uses financial repression, exile, and imprisonment to crush peaceful resistance. Exile Hub’s Bitcoin for Exiles (https://www.exilehub.org/) initiative will pilot a Bitcoin-based financial autonomy program designed to meet the needs of Burma’s democratic movement. With HRF support, the program will offer training, privacy-focused toolkits, and workshops to equip dissidents within Burma and in exile with the tools to survive, organize, and resist the junta’s financial repression.

Pluto Mining

Today, most Bitcoin mining hardware relies on closed-source software that can expose user data and create dependence on third parties. Pluto Mining (https://www.plutomining.io/) is the first open-source mining fleet management platform that gives miners control over their operations without third-party dependence. With HRF support, Pluto will empower individuals in repressive environments to mine Bitcoin privately, independently, and securely, further decentralizing the Bitcoin network.

WantClue

Bitcoin mining is dominated by industrial operations that use proprietary hardware and software. Over time, this could put Bitcoin’s decentralization and accessibility at risk. Bitaxe (https://bitaxe.org/) counters this trend by providing an affordable and open-source miner for individuals. Nostr:npub1vwf2mytkyk22x2gcmr9d7ktprakh6llwpzxqlke8rlv5j0qyx2esf2lxtw maintains the Bitaxe firmware and produces educational content that makes mining more accessible to dissidents and individuals in closed societies. With HRF support, WantClue will strengthen mining decentralization and expand access to self-sovereign financial infrastructure for those under repression.

Peter Tyonum

Developers in adverse political and economic environments need accessible and secure wallet software infrastructure to build freedom tools. Developer nostr:npub1a6vft2aen3ntemv3csxaveuklnwxd6wfms86psc8j07y4us83wlq6dg0cr contributes to the nostr:npub13dk3dke4zm9vdkucm7f6vv7vhqgkevgg3gju9kr2wzumz7nrykdq0dgnvc , which abstracts wallet software into usable plug-and-play components and makes it easier for developers to create censorship-resistant tools. With this grant, Tyonum will continue to help developers worldwide create accessible, permissionless Bitcoin applications.

BitScript

An inclusive developer base is essential to Bitcoin’s long-term decentralization. BitScript (https://www.bitscript.app/), a free, open-source Bitcoin developer education program, trains developers in authoritarian and inflationary environments across Latin America and Africa to build protocol-level freedom technologies. Global development helps ensure that Bitcoin serves as a lifeline for people facing repression. HRF’s grant will help BitScript democratize protocol knowledge to ensure the network reflects global needs.

Code Orange Dev School

Many regions lack the technical education to build, maintain, and use Bitcoin. To address this, the nostr:npub1gxqyeea3xspkd68mxlxsvvk3gdzdd555u504ynwpdj0ghg503mvq2gydt0 in Indonesia teaches developers and individuals across Asia to contribute to open-source Bitcoin projects, run nodes, and use privacy-enhancing tools like ecash, fedimint, and nostr. HRF’s support will help equip communities with tools to resist authoritarianism.

Demo Lab

As authoritarian governments in Latin America tighten their grip on financial and political power, there is an urgent need for civic and financial education. Demo Lab’s nostr:npub17j8zm78qu82kst8305w9vy4y6z7p6hdl2wjtf0dp7dqcy97mryzsj26sg4 introduces Bitcoin as a tool for financial independence and teaches practical skills for saving and transacting securely. Through this grant, the Freedom Academy will prepare the next generation of Latin Americans to defend democracy and achieve economic sovereignty.

Nostr under Autocracy

In Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro's brutal dictatorship restricts traditional communication channels, prevents journalists from exposing the regime’s brutality, and financially suppresses civil society. Nostr under Autocracy, led by democracy activist Jesús González (https://x.com/jesusgonzalezs?lang=en), will train Venezuelan activists and human rights defenders to use the open-source nostr protocol for private, censorship-resistant communication and payments. With HRF support, this project will help Venezuelan dissidents speak freely online and build movements to resist Maduro’s digital and financial repression.

KernelKind

Dictators restrict communication, manipulate online content, and restrict dissidents’ financial access to silence dissent. nostr:npub1fgz3pungsr2quse0fpjuk4c5m8fuyqx2d6a3ddqc4ek92h6hf9ns0mjeck is contributing to Notedeck a Nostr browser created by Damus that makes it easier to build censorship-resistant apps with integrated Bitcoin payments. Its first app, Columns, introduces modular feeds and a marketplace for user-controlled algorithms, while Dmail will enable private, decentralized messaging with email interoperability. With this grant, Notedeck will continue to merge censorship-resistant communication with financial freedom and foster an ecosystem of apps for dissident communications and transactions.

Eric Holguin

Many people living under authoritarian regimes face censorship, Internet shutdowns, and frozen bank accounts that cut them off from communication and commerce. Nostr developer nostr:npub12gyrpse550melzx2ey69srfxlyd8svkxkg0mjcjkjr4zakqm2cnqwa3jj5 is working to build censorship-resistant apps with integrated Bitcoin payments by contributing to Damus and Nostr projects that empower individuals to communicate and transact without centralized control. With this grant, he will continue expanding free speech and financial freedom tools for people resisting repression worldwide.

Craig Warmke and Troy Cross

As authoritarian regimes expand financial surveillance and roll out central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), many people remain dangerously unaware of their risks to individual liberties. Transactional Freedom, a forthcoming book co-written by philosophers nostr:npub10afr060h0g3vf2ykynr6cvw2u7ta3tzpgjczfyufp420aeeen0xszf0xj0 and nostr:npub1n3sjlzmhpu8rl56umtptc4lua6zkretq2p82yhytnmlcuq639vlqd0te5l, makes the moral and legal case for recognizing a universal and constitutional right to transact. With HRF support, Warmke and Cross will examine financial repression in authoritarian regimes and its impact on human rights, activism, and financial freedom.

About BDF

BDF supports individuals and projects that make Bitcoin and related freedom technologies more powerful tools for human rights defenders operating in challenging political and financial environments. Since launching in 2020, BDF has grantedifted $9.6 million in BTC to 319 projects across 62 countries worldwide.

Learn more about BDF on our website (https://hrf.org/program/financial-freedom/bitcoin-development-fund/).

HRF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. Gifts can be made at HRF.org/DevFund, and proposals for support can be submitted to https://hrf.org/bdfapply.

Follow nostr:npub17xvf49kht23cddxgw92rvfktkd3vqvjgkgsdexh9847wl0927tqsrhc9as for more updates on this project and all of our other programs designed to promote freedom and human rights around the world.

https://afilini.com/blog/the-unwritten-rule/