Human rights activist Alex Gladstein explains Bitcoin's role in the global south

The Scoop

Alex Gladstein is the Chief Strategy Officer for the Human Rights Foundation and a frequent contributor to Bitcoin Magazine.

In this episode, Gladstein talks through his newly released book, Hidden Repression: How the IMF and World Bank Sell Exploitation as Development.

According to Gladstein, Western prosperity has come mainly at the expense of developing nations:

"We should be proud of the American Revolution and we should be proud of our Bill of Rights and we should be proud of democracy — it's definitely part of the reason why we're so successful — but another part of the reason is we've stolen wealth, labor, resources from poor countries for a long time now."

In contrast to neocolonial monetary policies which forced many developing nations into "debt traps," Gladstein says bitcoin is a credible neutral alternative:

"Think about all the digital money we use in the world today that's run by governments and corporations. [Bitcoin] is the only thing where the people have control over the monetary policy, at least in my view, and that's what makes it so interesting."

During this episode, Chaparro and Gladstein also discuss:

• How "number go up" drives bitcoin adoption
• Why gold has failed as a form of currency
• How bitcoin is used in the global south

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor CleanSpark.

About CleanSpark

CleanSpark (NASDAQ: CLSK) is America’s Bitcoin Miner™. Visit cleanspark.com/theblock to learn more about the CleanSpark way.