The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) today announced its latest round of Bitcoin Development Fund grants, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. The funds are being awarded to 18 projects focused on global education, Bitcoin Core development, decentralizing mining, and allowing developers in closed communities to participate and attend industry conferences.
The announcement comes just a few months after their latest round of grants in late September, where they also donated $500,000 to global Bitcoin projects. While the Human Rights Fund did not disclose exactly how much money each project receives, the following 18 projects are the beneficiaries of today's round of $500,000 grants:
Mostro, is a decentralized peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange created by Venezuelan developer Francisco Calderon on top of Nostr. Mostro aims to create an open and specialized protocol for developers in authoritarian regimes. The funding will support Mostro's progress in helping users in restricted financial environments buy and sell Bitcoin in a censorship-resistant way.
Mi Primer Bitcoin, is a non-profit organization that provides open source education about Bitcoin 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 international expansion and translation of these materials into gated communities.
Arab Hodl, making Bitcoin accessible to over 400 million Arabic speaking people around the world. The funds will support the creation of how-to guides, tutoring and self-conservation tutorials, educational podcasts, and foundational books on Bitcoin principles in Arabic, as well as best practices and how to get started using and contributing to the network.
Netblocks to support their efforts to monitor and report internet restrictions and shutdowns globally. The critical impact of internet shutdowns on human rights activists, journalists and the general public's right to freedom of expression, access to information and political participation requires continuous monitoring. The funding will also support coverage of emerging threats to Internet connectivity, especially those affecting the Bitcoin network.
In Lorraine For his work on Stratum V2, an upgrade to the current protocol used by Bitcoin miners to communicate with pools. Stratum V2 enables mining pool users to specify transactions for proposed blocks, rather than relying on templates from pools, which increases Bitcoin's resistance to censorship by reducing the problematic power of pools. Lorban will use the HRF funding to improve the V2 layer reference implementation (SRI) and its test tool, the Message Generator (MG).
John Carlson for his continued contributions to updating and improving the Bitcoin Core app project, allowing users to run Bitcoin on their phones. Through this work, John hopes to reduce technical barriers, making self-custodial and self-verification of Bitcoin transactions accessible to a wider audience. The funding will also support its efforts to expand compatibility with Android phones and tablets.
Area Bitcoin to expand its free Bitcoin educational content across multiple languages. Founded by Carol Souza and Kaka Furlan, Area Bitcoin is a prominent Bitcoin educational resource based in Brazil, operating primarily in Portuguese, with over 300,000 followers. The funding will support the development and translation of videos and articles into Spanish and English to help target a broader audience in Latin America.
Bertha Valle For educational work related to Bitcoin in Nicaragua, with a focus on the human rights defenders community. The funds will be used to create an interactive online training program on Bitcoin for dissidents and civil society leaders in Nicaragua and help them become more resilient and stronger in their efforts to resist the Ortega regime.
Bitshala, is an educational initiative led by Indian Bitcoiners that provides guidance and resources to developers entering the Bitcoin space. Bitshala will use the funding to create a repository for tutorials and technical presentations, organize study groups, conduct PR reviews, and nurture India's vibrant Bitcoin community.
Hack.BS, a non-profit association based in Italy. The funding will be used to open a cypherpunk hackerspace, serving as a collaborative co-working hub by day and an active event space, hosting meetings, workshops and hackathons by night. The funds will also be used to help internationalize the center and bring in global expertise in the areas of financial freedom and privacy advocacy.
Bitcoin Deba, also known as Satoshi Pearl, to expand the Sri Lankan Bitcoin community. The funds will support monthly Bitcoin meetups in cities such as Colombo, Galle, Kandy and Ella; Assist merchants in adopting self-custodial Bitcoin acceptance methods; the introduction of BoltCard-based Lightning solutions; Promoting education through translations. The funds will also support the launch of a Sinhala language podcast titled “Bitcoin Katha”.
Exonumia, a non-profit organization that translates Bitcoin educational content into indigenous African languages such as Shona, Malagasy, Amharic, Swahili, and Lingala. The funding will support Exonumia's efforts to translate additional content into more languages, increase awareness of Bitcoin, and grow communities geared toward financial freedom.
L0la L33tzFor her efforts in creating a Bitcoin privacy guide for beginners, with a particular focus on activists, dissidents, and NGOs working in hostile environments. The guide will help newcomers recognize privacy risks, assess personal threat vectors, learn privacy-preserving techniques, and understand Bitcoin technology to make accurate, informed privacy decisions.
Groundswell, is a project founded by Hedia Massey to support free Bitcoin education for diaspora and exile communities in the UK, especially refugees from the Middle East. The funds will be used to host workshops, create training materials, create wallets, introduce refugees with their first satoshi, and educate refugees on how to send Bitcoin to their families back home.
Kulbreet Singh For his work on Braidpool, a proposed peer-to-peer mining pool designed to enhance Bitcoin's censorship resistance. Braidpool enables miners to build their own blocks, reducing the influence of pool operators in delaying or blocking payments. The funds will enable Kulpreet's continued development of Braidpool to increase Bitcoin's censorship resistance and further decentralization.
SeedSigner, a DIY Bitcoin signature device that anyone, anywhere can build themselves. The funds will facilitate the final stages of research and development on MicroPython, eliminate Raspberry Pi dependencies, and enable operations on affordable microcontrollers to make self-storage of Bitcoin accessible to the masses.
Bitcoin++, a conference series focused on developers around the world. With an emphasis on long lectures and workshops, developers will delve into the latest Bitcoin technologies. The funding will cover educational efforts, public conference expenses, as well as travel expenses for developers from authoritarian countries.
Bitcoin Atlantis, a Bitcoin conference will be held March 1-3 in Madeira, Portugal. Human Rights Foundation funding will help human rights defenders, civil society leaders, and educators working in dictatorial regimes to attend the event, share their experiences, and gain new connections and resources.
More about the human rights organization
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan, non-profit 501(c)3 organization that works to promote and protect human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. The HRF continues to raise support for the Bitcoin Development Fund, and proposals for support can be submitted to bdf@hrf.org.
