today, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is the latest Bitcoin Development Fund Subsidy Oslo Freedom ForumAccording to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine:
The 10 Bitcoins, currently worth $704,740 at the time of writing, will be awarded to 13 different projects around the world. According to the release, the funds will be used to promote education for people living under authoritarian regimes, privacy and Lightning Network development, decentralized communications, and providing an easier path to economic freedom for nonprofits and human rights organizations.
HRF’s primary focus for this round of grants will be countries and regions in Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
This announcement was made by HRF Final Round HRF announced the total amount of grants in March, donating $500,000 to 14 Bitcoin projects around the world. While HRF did not reveal exactly how much each project will receive, today’s total grant amount is 10 BTC, which was awarded to the following 13 projects:
- Robosatis a Tor-only, KYC-free platform that allows users to exchange Bitcoin for national currencies in a peer-to-peer manner over the Lightning Network. As an open-source, privacy-first project, Robosats is an important platform for people living under authoritarian regimes. Funding will support ongoing development (including Android app development), hardening RoboSats nodes, and strengthening our social media presence.
- Bitshara The internship program is a grassroots bitcoin education initiative from India that provides mentorship, resources, and opportunities for aspiring bitcoin developers. As financial repression increases in India, bitcoin development is essential to ensure its citizens remain financially free. The program enables students to contribute to important free and open source bitcoin projects, including Bitcoin Core, CoinPick, and more. Funds will support these internships and help Bitshala establish a hackerspace and community center in Bangalore inspired by Bitcoin Park and Chaincode Labs.
- Building Bridges to Bitcoin (BBB), an education initiative in the Middle East and North Africa region Ideas that transcend borders (IBB). By providing educational materials in Arabic, the project empowers local youth to use Bitcoin to fight tyranny, secure economic independence, defend human rights, and transform their communities. Funds will cover translation, publishing of educational materials, and administrative costs.
- flashis a Nostr-enabled Lightning wallet designed to connect Caribbean island economies with Bitcoin. Founded by Dread, Flash aims to give a historically underbanked and politically oppressed region access to global online marketplaces and physical Bitcoin on/off-ramps. Funds will be used for Flash’s development, educational materials, onboarding of local businesses, and adoption campaigns across the Caribbean.
- Bitcoin Seoulis a Bitcoin conference in Seoul, South Korea, aiming to broaden the understanding and adoption of Bitcoin. The event will bring together industry experts, local policymakers, and a diverse range of speakers and attendees to explore Bitcoin from both a general and technical perspective. The funds will also help support open source efforts as well as create a space for North Korean defectors to meet with Bitcoin developers and collaborate on human rights work in North Korea.
- Margot Paez Research investigating the relationship between Bitcoin mining, human rights, and sovereignty. Recognizing that without electricity people cannot easily achieve their civil liberties, her research will explore how Bitcoin mining can reduce corruption and waste in the energy system and extend power and electricity for those who lack it. She will also explore how certain trends in Bitcoin mining could lead to more decentralization of the entire network, making the software a more censorship-resistant tool for the world’s most vulnerable people. The funding will help support Margot’s graduate studies.
- Lightning Signer Verification (VLS) is an open source project that enhances the security of the Lightning Network by isolating private keys from Lightning nodes. VLS adds an extra layer of protection for Bitcoin users and lowers the barrier to running a Lightning node, allowing more users to achieve their own financial independence. The allocated funds will be used to hire a full-time Rust developer to fix bugs and address feature requests.
- OpenSatOpenSats is a 501(c)(3) public charity that funds free and open source projects, education, and research. Most OpenSats donations go directly to open source contributors, 100%, which helps support OpenSats’ core operating costs and enables us to scale our operations and grow our team.
- coreKenyan non-profit Bitcoin education platform Felix MukunguThe East Africa initiative aims to increase economic freedom for Kenyans and people in the Great Lakes region through education, entertainment and engaging content. Funds will cover face-to-face meetings, course creation, salaries and rewards for students upon course completion.
- Terry Yua software engineer working on three Nostr-related projects: the Nostr SDK, which helps developers create Nostr-based apps for Apple devices; the conference app Comingle; and DAMSa decentralized social platform. This grant will support Terry’s continued development of these projects and help strengthen free speech and censorship-resistant communication for people around the world.
- Paulo SacramentoA UX designer and researcher specializing in Bitcoin. He Brazil’s digital payment system “Pix” Learning lessons for expanding Bitcoin adoption, especially among underbanked and underserved communities. There are big lessons here in terms of citizens choosing between a platform like CBDC and an open source option like Bitcoin. The grant will support research efforts conducted over the past two years.
- Blockchain Commonsa non-profit organization that supports ongoing development frostis a next-generation security protocol that improves the resiliency and security of private keys. It is a key building block for giving users self-sovereign control over their identities and Bitcoin. For example, FROST helps make “multi-sig” solutions (attractive to human rights activists) more flexible and robust. The funds will support the hosting of two FROST Roundtables by members of the FROST ecosystem.
- Bitcoin Summeris a global internship program that allows university students to contribute to Bitcoin open source development and design. Students gain valuable experience and potential career opportunities while earning Bitcoin scholarships. The grant supports student scholarships, mentor compensation, and program operations. The program receives thousands of applications from over 50 countries each year, helping promising individuals, especially those from authoritarian regimes, find roles in the Bitcoin community.
HRF is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Bitcoin Development Fundand interested donors can find more information on how to donate Bitcoin. hereTo apply for a grant from HRF, here.
