Human Rights Foundation plans to give 425M satoshis under Bitcoin Development Fund

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Foundation announced its intention to give 425 million satoshis (which is the smallest divisible unit of the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin) to various contributors under the organization’s current Bitcoin Development Fund program.

The Bitcoin Development Fund, which was established in May 2020, is largely dedicated to strengthening the privacy, usability, and security of the Bitcoin network. The Foundation stated that it would devote the majority of its funding for this round of grants to the expansion of Bitcoin education and translations, as well as the advancement of Bitcoin core, lightning, and wallets.

As per a press release from the Human Rights Foundation, the funds will be divided among a number of beneficiaries, including developers Jarol Rodriguez, Roya Mahboob, Farida Nabourema, Anita Posch, and Meron Estefanos. Multiple projects will also receive funding from the Foundation, as will the Sparrow Bitcoin Wallet, the Summer of Bitcoin internship program, Boltz Exchange, and the Blockchain Commons development group.

Particular gratitude was extended to the Foundation to CMS Holdings, the Gemini Opportunity Fund, and Jameson Lopp for their donations, which were detailed in its press release.

Human Rights Foundation urges not to hate BTC

The Human Rights Foundation made headlines in January 2021 when it urged readers of Time magazine not to reject Bitcoin and other digital assets. Alex Gladstein, the Foundation’s chief strategy officer at the time, stated the following:

“Bitcoin is neutral like cash and can’t discriminate between good and bad […] Some extremists use these tools. They also use mobile phones, email, and the internet.”

The executive also expressed concern that turning away from emerging financial technologies such as Bitcoin could result in a more militarized police state in the United States, spurred by “mass surveillance to fight extremism.”

Bitcoin has been slipping down and is currently sitting at the three-month low after the Kazakhstan internet shutdown.