Bitcoin Gives Voice to Those Silenced by Governments

• The Canadian Trucker Protest of 2022 highlighted how freedom of speech is a right in modern Western Democracies.
• GoFundMe’s attempt to pass the money raised for the protestors to causes they aligned with showed the need to comply with the government.
• Bitcoin allowed truckers to skirt the restrictions imposed by the Canadian government, and more recently, the Iranian government has frozen the bank accounts of women who refuse to wear hijabs.

The events of 2022 have highlighted the importance of freedom of speech in modern Western Democracies. This was particularly evident during the Canadian Trucker Protest, where the government responded by freezing bank accounts of those involved. This was met with dismay from many, with some turning to Bitcoin to help those affected survive. However, even organizations such as GoFundMe attempted to pass the money raised for the protestors to causes they aligned with. This further demonstrated the need to comply with the government, and showed how Bitcoin could be used to skirt such restrictions.

More recently, the Iranian government has taken steps to quell ongoing protests for freedom of expression, by freezing the bank accounts of women who refuse to wear hijabs, traditional Muslim head covering, in public. This has been met with condemnation, with one protester already having been executed by hanging by the Iranian government.

It is clear that traditional outlets are starting to catch on to the idea of decentralized money, with Ethereum insisting on being the new decentralized money of the internet, yet still enforcing Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions on its base layer. This shows that nobody is going to save you, and that it is up to individuals to take control of their own finances and freedom of expression. Bitcoin provides a way of doing this, allowing those affected by government crackdowns to skirt such restrictions, and stand up for their right to freedom of speech.