Read_920 - Criminalized Self-Custody [FFR 92]

“If you think they'll have restraint, I think you're
making a grave error.”


Can your wallet, your node, or even your hardware become
“unlicensed financial activity” overnight? I walk through HRF’s
latest Financial Freedom report on new laws in places like the
UAE and Belarus, then riff on how these tactics bleed into
Western “financial stability” narratives, KYC social media, and
digital ID. Along the way we explore the tools—from DIY hardware
to Lightning and e‑cash—that might be the thin line between being
banked, blocked, or truly sovereign.


References from the episode


HRF’s Financial Freedom Report #100 (Link:
https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-100/)

Alex Gladstein’s essay “Why Bitcoin Is Freedom Money” (Link:
https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-bitcoin-is-freedom-money/)

HRF’s Bitcoin for Nonprofits webinar (Link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0sjqwSFQo8HGMsWIIDRyhx34TsoonOSTfYoWSy-aaBbLeSw/viewform)

BTC Sessions’ 15‑minute Sparrow Wallet crash course (Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EVDtos8ZgI)

Bitcoin++ in Taipei (Link:
https://btcplusplus.dev/conf/taipei)

Nut November: Cashu Ecash Hackathon (Link:
https://nutnovember.org/)

Cashu Ecash Protocol (Link: https://cashu.space/)

My upcoming read following-up on Allen Farrington’s "Only the
Strong Survive" (Link:
https://www.uncerto.com/only-the-strong-survive)

My future chat with Matt Ahlborg from PPQ.ai (Link:
http://ppq.ai/)



Check out the original report Weekly Financial Freedom
Report #99 by HRF. (Link:
https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-99/)


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HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit
organization that promotes and protects human rights globally,
with a focus on closed societies.