Human Rights Foundation provides $500,000 in support to 18 Bitcoin projects around the world

Today, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) announced its most recent Bitcoin Development Fund grants, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. The funding will support 18 projects focusing on global education, Bitcoin Core development, mining decentralization, and enabling developers in closed societies to participate and present at industry conferences.

The announcement comes just a few months after its last grant application in late September, which donated $500,000 to Bitcoin projects around the world. HRF did not disclose exactly how much funding each project is receiving, but the following 18 projects received grants worth $500,000 today:

Mostro is a decentralized peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange built on top of Nostr by Venezuelan developer Francisco Calderón. Mostro aims to build open protocols and specialize for developers in authoritarian regimes. The funds will support the development of Mostro, which helps users in restricted financial environments buy and sell Bitcoin in a censorship-resistant manner.

Mi Primer Bitcoin is a non-profit organization providing open source Bitcoin education in Central America. Their Bitcoin Diploma is already in use in countries such as El Salvador, South Africa, Portugal, Honduras, Cuba, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Uruguay. HRF funding will specifically support the international expansion and translation of these materials into closed societies.

Arabic Hodl makes Bitcoin more accessible to the more than 400 million Arabic speakers around the world. The funds will support the creation of Arabic-language how-to guides on the principles of Bitcoin, privacy and self-care tutorials, educational podcasts, and foundational books on best practices and how to get started using and contributing to the network.

Netblocks supports efforts to monitor and report Internet restrictions and shutdowns globally. The significant impact of the lockdown on freedom of expression, access to information and political participation of human rights defenders, journalists and the general public requires ongoing monitoring. Funding will also support coverage against emerging threats to internet connectivity, particularly those affecting the Bitcoin network.

in lorraine His work on Stratum V2 is an upgrade to the current protocol that Bitcoin miners use to communicate with pools. Stratum V2 allows mining pool users to select transactions for proposed blocks rather than relying on the pool’s templates, increasing Bitcoin’s censorship resistance by reducing the power of problematic pools. Lorban will use the HRF funding to improve the Stratum V2 reference implementation (SRI) and its test tool, the Message Generator (MG).

John Carlson for his ongoing contributions to updating and improving the Bitcoin Core App project to allow users to run Bitcoin on their phones. John hopes that this work will lower technical barriers and make self-storage and self-verification of Bitcoin transactions more accessible to more people. The funding will also support his efforts to expand compatibility with Android phones and tablets.

Area Bitcoin expands its free Bitcoin educational content into multiple languages. Founded by Carol Souza and Kaka Furlan, Area Bitcoin is a prominent Bitcoin education resource based in Brazil, primarily in Portuguese, with over 300,000 followers. Funding will help develop and translate videos and articles into Spanish and English to help reach a wider audience in Latin America.

berta ballet For Bitcoin education activities in Nicaragua focused on the community of human rights defenders. She will use the funds to build an interactive online Bitcoin education program for Nicaraguan dissidents and civil society leaders, helping them become more resilient and powerful in their efforts to resist the Ortega regime.

Bitshala is an educational initiative led by Indian Bitcoin users that provides guidance and resources to developers entering the Bitcoin space. Bitshala will use the funds to create a repository of tutorials and technical presentations, organize research groups, hold PR reviews, and foster an active Bitcoin community in India.

Hack.BS is a non-profit association based in Italy. The funds will be used to open a cypherpunk hackerspace, which will serve as a co-working center by day and an active events space hosting meetups, workshops and hackathons by night. The funds will also be used to help internationalize the Center and bring global expertise in the areas of financial freedom and privacy.

bitcoin depa, also known as Satoshi’s Pearl, expands the Sri Lankan Bitcoin community. The funds will support monthly Bitcoin meetups in cities such as Colombo, Galle, Kandy and Ella. Helps merchants adopt self-managed Bitcoin acceptance methods. Introducing BoltCard-based Lightning solution; Enhancing education through translation. The funds will also support the launch of “Bitcoin Katha,” a Sinhala-language podcast.

Exonumia is a non-profit organization that translates Bitcoin educational content into indigenous African languages ​​such as Shona, Malagasy, Amharic, Swahili, and Lingala. The funds will support Exonumia’s efforts to translate additional content into more languages, increase awareness of Bitcoin, and grow a financial freedom-oriented community.

Louisa, we appreciate your efforts in creating a beginner’s guide to Bitcoin privacy with a special focus on activists, dissidents, and NGOs operating in hostile environments. This guide will help newcomers learn about privacy risks, assess privacy threat vectors, learn privacy techniques, and understand Bitcoin technology to make thoughtful, informed decisions about privacy. It will help you.

Groundswell is a project founded by Hadiya Masieh that provides free Bitcoin education to the UK’s diaspora and exile communities, particularly refugees from the Middle East. Funds will be used to host workshops, create training materials, set up wallets, take refugees on board with their first Satoshi, and train refugees on how to send Bitcoin to their families back home.

Kulpreet Singh We appreciate his work on Braidpool, a peer-to-peer mining pool designed to make Bitcoin more censorship-resistant. Braidpool empowers miners to build blocks, reducing the influence of pool operators who delay or prevent payments. The funds will enable the continued development of Kulpreet’s Braidpool, increasing Bitcoin’s censorship resistance and further decentralization.

SeedSigner is a DIY Bitcoin signing device that anyone, anywhere can make themselves. The funding will accelerate the final stages of MicroPython research and development, eliminate Raspberry Pi dependencies, and enable operation on inexpensive microcontrollers, making Bitcoin self-storage more affordable to the public.

bitcoin++, a worldwide developer-focused conference series. Developers will dive deep into the cutting edge of Bitcoin technology, focusing on lengthy lectures and workshops. Funding will cover training activities, conference fees, and travel expenses for developers in authoritarian countries.

Bitcoin Atlantis is a Bitcoin conference taking place from March 1st to 3rd in Madeira, Portugal. HRF funding will help human rights activists, civil society leaders and educators working in dictatorships to attend events, share experiences and gain new contacts and resources.

More information about HRF

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. HRF continues to increase support for the Bitcoin Development Fund, and proposals for support can be submitted to bdf@hrf.org.