The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has awarded its latest round of Bitcoin Development Fund grants, distributing 10 Bitcoin (approximately $590,000) to 20 global projects.
These grants focus on empowering people living under authoritarian regimes through Bitcoin education, conferences, decentralized mining efforts, and improved financial privacy for human rights organizations.
Latin America, Asia, and Africa are the primary regions benefiting from this funding.
While HRF did not specify individual amounts per project, the following 20 initiatives have been selected for support:
- African Bitcoiners: A community educating Africans on Bitcoin, providing courses and tools for economic empowerment in politically unstable regions.
- Stratospher: A Bitcoin Core developer working on improving peer-to-peer network privacy and decentralization.
- Coracle: A Nostr web client enhancing private, censorship-resistant social media experiences.
- Harbor: An open-source ecash wallet designed to improve privacy for human rights defenders.
- The 256 Foundation: Focuses on open Bitcoin mining, developing tools like Bitaxe for discreet, affordable home mining.
- Kiveclair: A project in the Democratic Republic of Congo educating people about Bitcoin and hosting meetups for local activists.
- Jeff Gardner: Developer working on encrypted communication through Nostr to resist state censorship.
- Silentium: A self-custodial Bitcoin wallet enhancing privacy through Silent Payments.
- BTC Shule by Belyï Nobel Kubwayo: A Burundi-based initiative providing Bitcoin education and a support community in local languages.
- EttaWallet: A mobile Lightning wallet for users in the Global South, prioritizing self-custody and accessibility.
- Tor Relay Operators: Supporting network reliability and security for Bitcoin and Lightning users via Tor.
- Rikto Xonghoti: A Bitcoin education initiative in Assam, India, promoting economic development through a circular Bitcoin economy.
- Yes Bitcoin Haiti: A grassroots effort teaching Bitcoin to Haitians facing political and financial instability.
- Bitcoin Indonesia: A project connecting local talent to Bitcoin opportunities and hosting Indonesia's largest Bitcoin conference.
- Bitcoin++: A developer conference series delving into Bitcoin technology through lectures and workshops.
- TABConf: A Bitcoin conference fostering collaboration between protocol and application developers.
- Baltic Honeybadger: A Bitcoin-only conference in Latvia promoting privacy and financial freedom.
- LaBitconf and Descentralizar: Annual Bitcoin conferences in Argentina offering education and networking for developers and attendees.
- Satsconf: The largest Bitcoin conference in South America, bringing together global leaders and the local community.
- Solidarity Summit by Hager Eissa: A Vienna-based event addressing political prisoner rights, adding a financial freedom focus with HRF’s support.
The HRF remains committed to protecting human rights worldwide and is actively raising funds for the Bitcoin Development Fund.
Donations and applications for future grants can be submitted through the HRF's official channels.