How to do it?🙈☺️ I also have lighting address and BTCPay Server: donate@bps.odfoundation.eu

We know and support each other 🍀

Do you use passport to move from the country to country? Do you use banking? Do you pay your bills? Do you call police/emergency if someone injured? Do you follow rules when driving? Answer to you, not me.

If any of those answers “yes” - it means you comply with regulations or you expect them to be implemented. Im not theoretical, but practical. Your bravery will probably end with the moment of arrest/fines in case if #bitcoin is labeled in the regulations as a tool for illicit activities only.

We live with different experiences and it is ok, that you don’t get it. Enjoy your freedom. Someone defended it in your country a long time ago. But with current trends it will not last forever.

🫡🫶

Try to live in Somalia or other failed state, then with this experience it will be easier to have discussion.

I don’t have privilege to be theoretical, but I need to have effective tools to resist oppression in the more and more shrinking democratic world.

Im not questioning your professionalism just because I don’t know how to do coding/programming. 😉 I look at proof of work: what people are doing and achieving accordingly after saying something.

As Open Dialogue Foundation we defended and helped to release hundreds of political prisoners in authoritarian states: both key politicians, journalists, activists, independent judges, lawyers, entrepreneurs, their family members taken as hostages by regimes and just people who were repressed for likes/shares of political posts in social media. We protected thousands of peaceful protestors in different countries and we expose massive financial exclusion as a repressive tool against millions.

Actually because my work is very effective three regimes announced/classified me as a threat to national security to their powers back in 2018. https://www.ft.com/content/1d341a96-b80b-11e8-bbc3-ccd7de085ffe

They tried to paralyze and even kill me and my colleagues, luckily I was protected by Belgian, #Swiss , #French, #UK and #German governments.

At the same time regimes unfortunately succeed to weaponize my banking data in #Belgium even with all political protections I got at that time.

It was possible due to the abuse of AML/CFT laws. It cost unfortunately life, imprisonment to both my organization’s donors and recipients of the funds in authoritarian states. And I spent years to release those who became victims of the weaponization of my banking data in Belgium and Poland and in parallel started to educate #EU and #US regulators about those abuses to change the regulations.

So how I not only survived being completely deprived the right to have banking accounts in the very heart of the EU, but helping other victims of financial exclusion, provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine for over 8 mln euro? Answer is very simple-with #bitcoin.

That is why I defend bitcoin as a human right technology in democracies. And we succeeded in doing so at some aspects: thanks to the support of nostr:npub1sg6plzptd64u62a878hep2kev88swjh3tw00gjsfl8f237lmu63q0uf63m nostr:npub1hyqrsvl6hle8r5rc9cpshesm0mpcee75tgde4p5lhke5h83dyqqqdwk7cp nostr:npub1kp7jzme0qs3wcqjjmkq6v5fm359sclhc22glhadgtmerlr0h37nsn8487l we convinced regulators to change AML regulation in the EU protecting banking data, the right for banking and recognition that #bitcoin as crypto-asset is a payment & fundraising instrument, we defended the legitimacy of use the self-hosted wallets.

But now the US is pushing back against such liberalization in the EU and attacking privacy tools, p2p transactions via recommendations of FATF/G7. So we came to DC too to defend our the only financial freedom tool and met with US State Department, US #FATF, #Senate and other regulatory bodies.

You can read more here: https://en.odfoundation.eu/projects-and-campaigns/combating-financial-exclusion-and-work-of-btc-coalition/

Thank you for solidarity 🍀

In which country do you leave/what citizenship do you have? You can answer to yourself. Not me publicly.

Try to apply your recommendations with citizenship of authoritarian regimes and write something at social media to ignore the order of regime. Then we can continue our exchange of the opinions.

When you have privilege to operate in a safe country- surely, you can focus on energy. But if suddenly you are not, your perspective changes.

It is not about requesting permission at all. When you defend your freedom it is not requesting something, it is using procedure in democracy (likely we have such privileges) to preserve your position and show wrong approach of government who is representing your interests. Governments live on our money/taxes, and again in democracy you can defend your position in a safe way.

Where are you going to move if all countries become authoritarian?

It is all about privileges and instruments you have in your hands to defend your life, close to your people, or your peaceful environment, home where do you live. If you don’t defend them, but enjoy your freedoms - it means someone did this job for you.

My 15 years of experience in human rights gave me painful lessons that all freedoms have to be defended or better to be preserved from abuse, and reality doesn’t care if you admit it or not.

In democracies you have more chances to defend/preserve your freedoms in easier and safe way. In case of political prisoners or victims of torture of dictatorships - political pressure of democratic institutions is the only chance to save imprisoned activist’s lives.

In dictatorships even like of the post in social media can cost you a life. Same can happen with bitcoin, especially if democracies label it in the regulations with criminal activities.

#bitcoin as a technology doesn’t need me or you. But it was created by freedom fighter Satoshi #Nakamoto to support freedom fighters. In solidarity I don’t want to allow to some lazy privileged individuals in democratic countries to ban/label #bitcoin or #PoW with any illicit activities/threat to security at the early stage of its existence.

In democracies I can safely explain to regulators that it is an enormous mistake of privileged people, who don’t know what is financial exclusion in practice and forget that technology is always should be evaluated as a neutral tool. It can be used by bad and good actors. But it doesn’t mean that legitimate actors should suffer.

And those whom I met from regulators agreed with me and our recommendations, both in US and EU. That is why I want to continue my work in defense of neutral language to bitcoin and PoW as technology in democracies.

I cannot do this in authoritarian states.

I experienced what does it mean being financially excluded due to coordinated attacks of three dictators in the very heart of EU, in Brussels. Also just as my colleagues activists in dictatorships - we need both bitcoin as the only financial tool we have rights now and both political support of democratic governments who help us to release political prisoners.

Politicians just most of people follow narratives. Who is creating and maintaining negative narratives against #bitcoin? If you follow it you get a reply where democratic states are heading blindly. China and other dictatorships banned or are at the process of banning #PoW and #bitcoin to preserve its benefits as their own privilege, just as dictatorships did with other freedoms.

Unfortunately, most of people in democracies think that freedoms are guaranteed and you don’t need any more need to defend it. I assure you, that it is not a case at all.

Freedoms are easy to lose and almost impossible, or only with a highest price you get back.

Thank you ☺️🌸🙏

I have heard such voices in many countries one step before dictatorship were established for the last 15 years of my human rights work. After time, the most of people were losing their families, homes, rights or ended up being victims of abuse of power and lost their lives.

You have a right to believe in what your are saying, but if you don’t defend your position, soon the environment where you used to have a right to express your position freely can become a matter why someone wants to violate your rights without being accountable. And since there is no safe environment- no mechanisms to defend your rights left.

If you don’t try to prevent it and no one stands up in your defense - your chances to exist/express your opinion/enjoy your rights come to zero.

#bitcoin doesn’t care if you use it or not. It is a brilliant technology created by humans. So Satoshi Nakamoto did a real effort as a first step to protect the rights for financial freedom of many people. But it is not enough and never should be treated as granted.

Other bad actors can and actually want you to deprive the rights to use not only #bitcoin, but generally your rights/goods. If you can’t defend your rights, if developers would not deliver new solutions how to resist against the financial oppression - you will lose the ability to enjoy your freedom. So actually both you and me, other bitcoiners - we need to have the safe environment both for life and for developers/bitcoin miners to work on their tasks. And no one is going to provide it without our efforts to get or protect it.

That is why I see my role as to help protect at this stage 1) those who use bitcoin as bank of last resort in the authoritarian states and 2) those who work on the network of bitcoin, like miners, privacy developers.

With all respect to you, as European citizen you don’t use bitcoin as a bank of last resort - you probably pay your expenses in credit cards. Right? So likely, you don’t experience financial exclusion we as activists/our families have and we are experiencing right now. And to enjoy these rights /privileges someone from your family fought for it centuries ago and probably it cost him/her their lives/enormous efforts. We do it in our countries with very limited resources right now and we don’t want to lose the safe environment we enjoy in democracies while we support our networks of activists in the authoritarian states. It is a question for us of life and death.

Also, I guess you may agree, that our civilization develops with different success and failure moments thanks those personalities who don’t observe passively how their peaceful lives are destroyed by abusive actors. Satoshi #Nakamoto is the one of those who did effort in defense of his beliefs, not just moved passively.

And I assure you - the success of such personalities in their ability to gather solidarity support of others for a marathon, not a sprint fight for rights and defense of everyone’s peace.

Have you seen what US is doing and draconian requests sent to #bitcoin miners? If we don’t defend our rights in democratic countries you would not have any more place to escape. We should not give up our freedoms.

What about now? Please check ☺️

https://geyser.fund/project/defendpow

Leave where? It is good that you can leave. I can’t and many activists can’t too. Other question: why we should leave? It is my home, Im not going to give up so easily.

Thank you nostr:npub1guh5grefa7vkay4ps6udxg8lrqxg2kgr3qh9n4gduxut64nfxq0q9y6hjy and nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx for helping us raise awareness about the ongoing attacks to #PoW in the #EU.

Right now we see the same coordination of the development regulatory ground against #bitcoin in the US.

We should defend our rights, our technology of financial freedom. Thank you guys for solidarity ⚡️🙏 nostr:note1s2cjlxrpqrsewphudnaj3ljalvg2qxj35jr5hetx3gtz093ef8fqu0n37p

Amid attacks on #P2P transactions, mixers, self-hosted wallets & rules threatening financial autonomy, this week our #BTCoalition, incl. Jorge #Jraissati & nostr:npub1kp7jzme0qs3wcqjjmkq6v5fm359sclhc22glhadgtmerlr0h37nsn8487l, Rafa #Cordon, is engaging with~20🇺🇸Senators' offices, DOS, US FATF & Helsinki Commission🔥– cuz getting the rules we deserve is about taking action