From Daniel Batten
Published on X – September 11, 2024
Note: these are not hypothetical, or isolated benefits – but existing uses that are currently impacting an exponentially growing set of people
Humanitarian benefits
- Getting aid to millions of war refugees
https://wired.com/story/ukraine-crypto-refugee-aid/ - Allowing refugees to take savings safely across borders and re-establish their lives (it is estimated 329,000 refugees have done this so far)
https://cnbc.com/2022/03/23/ukrainian-flees-to-poland-with-2000-in-bitcoin-on-usb-drive.html - Providing freedom from hyperinflation, or high inflation to 231 Million people
https://cointribune.com/en/argentina-bitcoin-faces-100-inflation-rate/ - Having a safe store of value in autocratic nations that lack a safe banking system
https://fanews.co.za/article/cryptocurrencies-blockchain/1407/general/1408/chainalysis-report-bitcoin-adoption-in-sub-saharan-africa-is-the-highest-in-the-world/37946
https://cnbc.com/2023/03/26/bitcoin-is-poised-to-blow-up-africas-86-billion-banking-system.html
https://bbc.com/news/world-africa-56169917 - Giving women to financial equity in nations that practice State-level discrimination against women
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-financial-freedom-in-afghanistan - Allowing people in developing nations to receive remittance payments from family without delays and without heavy fees, or loss of purchasing power in the 8 closed countries with dual-exchange rates
https://thenextweb.com/news/el-salvador-first-adopt-bitcoin-real-money-good-news-unbanked-syndication - Providing freedom from overnight currency debasement for 14 African nations experiencing French monetary colonization
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/08/03/macron-france-cfa-franc-eco-west-central-africa-colonialism-monetary-policy-bitcoin/ - Verifying, and improving, the integrity of electoral processes in semi-autocratic nations
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rafael-cord-n-safeguarding-elections-171813294.html - Providing banking to the unbanked (>2 billion unbanked in the world, mostly in autocratic nations)
https://cnbc.com/2023/03/26/bitcoin-is-poised-to-blow-up-africas-86-billion-banking-system.html
https://impact.economist.com/projects/banking-the-underbanked/ - Removing the risk of financial reprisal for running humanitarian campaigns in autocratic nations where 5.7Billion people live
https://journalofdemocracy.org/online-exclusive/how-to-dictator-proof-your-money/
Energy
ending energy poverty, creating energy security
- Providing energy abundance to multiple villages in Africa who were previously without power
https://unherd.com/2024/01/the-african-village-mining-bitcoin/ - Developing energy independence for nation-states, such as Bhutan, Ethiopia
https://forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2023/04/30/bhutan-bitcoin-mining-crypto/
Environmental benefits
- Reducing more emissions from landfills than the largest DAC project in the world ever achieved https://renewableenergymagazine.com/biogas/companies-launch-pilot-using-landfill-methane-emissions-20230502
- Accelerating the renewable transition by making renewable generation more profitable
https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/11/bitcoin-could-support-renewable-energy-development - Developing a monetary system with significantly lower emissions and emissions intensity than the banking system
https://nasdaq.com/articles/a-comparison-of-bitcoins-environmental-impact-with-that-of-gold-and-banking-2021-05-04 - Becoming the world’s most sustainably powered major industry
https://forkast.news/bitcoin-minings-green-mile-54-5-sustainable-energy-use/#:~:text=Bitcoin%20mining%20has%20achieved%20a,methane%20mitigation%20fund%20CH4%20Capital - Rescuing a National Park in Africa
https://technologyreview.com/2023/01/13/1066820/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-mining-congo-virunga-national-park/
Benefits to liberal democracies
- Having an international, borderless currency that governments cannot surveil or freeze, with fixed monetary supply that prevents irresponsible govt funding of forever-wars, passing debt burdens to future generations and inflationary money printing that widens wealth gaps
https://amazon.com/Engine-Inequality-Future-Wealth-America/dp/1119726743
- Providing a financial system that is harder to use for money laundering than fiat currency
https://decrypt.co/125623/crooks-defi-crypto-fiat-treasury
Also follow Alex Gladstein for more info on Bitcoin humanitarian benefits
