Let’s wrap up Bitcoinist’s coverage of the Oslo Freedom Forum with the controversy. In this final version, two stablecoin proponents and an extremely confused journalist took their stand. Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, has been a big proponent of stablecoins on the Lightning Network. His case is that dissidents need a less volatile currency than bitcoin. Did the panelists on the Oslo Freedom Forum do a good job of explaining why? Keep reading to find out.
And speaking of reading, if you’re interested in the other side of bitcoin, check out these real-life stories straight from the Oslo Freedom Forum: One, Two, three, four, Five, six, Seven,
Oslo Freedom Forum: Troy Krauss on the Idea of Bitcoin
Before we get to the controversy, let’s examine Troy Cross’s beautiful words. We don’t even have to introduce him, because he does it himself.
“I am a Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Reed College and also a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute. I will first tell you my story and then I will introduce the panel. I started getting interested in bitcoin in 2011. I was intrigued by the idea of money. Was fascinated by something that wasn’t controlled by a state and would disrupt a hunter-gatherer and rental industry. And I started mining this cryptocurrency with a few machines in my basement, and I’m excited about the community. Was. Possibility. Thought.
I am a philosopher. I thought it was one of the most beautiful ideas I’ve ever had. And I followed bitcoin because I liked the idea. I liked the idea of separating financial institutions and keeping money out of the purview of the state, an idea that turned into a valuable reality and promised to bring people the kind of freedom and independence we’ve seen here at this event . ,
this is just the begining. Start thinking about bitcoin and you’ll probably never stop. It is a deep, powerful and miraculous thought that can take over your life.
23/Entrepreneur, @feminist_co organizer, and @buy coins co-founder @ireaderinokun On the rise of stablecoins in Nigeria: pic.twitter.com/QmZFMEVaeT
— Alex Gladstein (@gladstein) 22 June 2022
Oslo Freedom Forum: Ire Adrinokun on stablecoins in Nigeria
The “Stablecoin on the Lightning Network” concept has always existed bitcoin 2022 conferenceAnd this Human Rights Foundation also offered 1 BTC reward For anyone who can solve the problem “without the need for an exchange or any other tokens.” It’s weird that they had Paolo Ardonino in the Oslo Freedom Forum because Tether is just that, “another token.” It would be Ardonino’s turn to speak. First, Ire Aderinokun, community organizer and co-founder of Buycoins, tries to explain why Nigeria needs stablecoins.
“So stablecoins have been a really good option for people to use, because if you want to have access to dollars in Nigeria, let’s say you want to keep your money in Nigeria, but you want to keep it in dollars. So you would try to open a USD denominated account, but there are a lot of problems with that because one, it is not accessible to everyone. And two, there are so many different restrictions on it.
This is if you have a dollar card. The restriction is now such, you can probably spend $20 per month, which is completely ridiculous. What are you going to do with it? And it’s not unheard of for you to wake up one day and find out that the government has converted all your dollars into naira, at whatever rate they are. So keeping money or dollars in Nigeria is not an option for most people.”
Rich countries find it difficult to see, but it is a common situation all over the world. However, bitcoin fixes this. Does Nigeria need stablecoins or learn to deal with volatility? Let’s go back to Aderinokun for an explanation.
“So most people would try to say, “Okay, let’s send my money overseas, let me try and send it to a US bank account or something like that.” And that’s also incredibly hard because, well, How are you going to do this? First, obviously there are restrictions, as I already mentioned. But even if you want to use something like TransferWise or Western Union, they are still very slow. The rates they give you also won’t be as efficient and they don’t always work as well.”
Well, bitcoin fixes that.
“And that’s why people are now turning to stablecoins because it’s a way for them to access dollars without a traditional system that doesn’t really allow them to do that. So most people, what you said, really Not interested in bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general and Nigerians are very interested in stablecoins as a way to keep their money outside the financial system.
Nigerians want stablecoins because that’s what they know. However, they need bitcoin. This would solve the problem that Aderinokun presented in the Oslo Freedom Forum without the counterparty risk that stablecoins exist. Why is there counterparty risk? Because a private company issues them. For example, Tether. Speaking about it…
BTC price chart 07/16/2022 on Coinbase | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Oslo Freedom Forum: Paolo Ardonino on the Basics of Stablecoins
As Tether’s chief technology officer, Paolo Ardonino has probably had this conversation a million times. While trying to explain why the world needs stablecoins, he explained the need for bitcoin instead.
“There are many places in the world like in Latin America, in South America, in Turkey, in Asia, in Africa, you have a really hard time accessing a bank account. There are 2 billion people in the world who have access to bank accounts. The level is not as much as others have. It’s not because they are bad people, it’s just that they are too poor to have a bank account. It can also be called sad and crazy.
Because the reason for this is that opening a bank account, keeping a bank account is extremely expensive. But at the same time, stable coins have a bigger purpose. All of them are a great utility for many people. They may not believe in cryptocurrencies, but they need access to hard and strong currencies as it is needed in their daily lives. They need to save their investment. They need to send their children to universities etc. And their national currency doesn’t allow that.”
Well, bitcoin fixes that. without counterparty risk.
25/ Finally—and importantly— @_elfaro_ investigative journalist @raudaz_ How Bukele is seizing arbitrary power in El Salvador as he imposes bitcoin on the population, and why financial freedom isn’t enough if you don’t have political freedom: pic.twitter.com/gAfNVuxGCO
— Alex Gladstein (@gladstein) 22 June 2022
Oslo Freedom Forum: Nelson Rouda’s Ridiculous Take
It’s a shame that the only Latin figure on the Oslo Freedom Forum panel was this so-called investigative journalist. Nelson Rouda works for El Faro, a newspaper financed by foreign powers that vehemently opposes the Salvadoran government. We at Bitcoinist do not cover politics, so our criticism of President Bukele is limited tothat terrible chivo walletOne Article 7 AnalysisAnd the constant mention of the lack of bitcoin education promised by the government.
What is the critique of Nelson Rouda?
“The Salvador bitcoin experience has been and is contradictory. It is pegged from top to bottom. It is not grounded. A national survey from December showed that only 10% of people believe that. The main beneficiaries of the bitcoin law are the people, which will be a year next week. While 80% believe that either the rich, foreign investors, banks, businessmen or the government are the main beneficiaries. So what I’m saying is this That Bukele has weaponized bitcoiners and their tweets to whitewash himself and the devious actions of his government.
Say what you want about Bukele, but the man made bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador. This fact will go down in history as the greatest thing a President has done for his people. This is why bitcoiners tweet about Bukele. If the Salvadorans who voted for El Faro don’t yet understand the magnitude of the gift given, that’s okay. They will eventually.
“But if you believe in bitcoin, you can please the president and the government, give Salvador this tool for financial freedom and still give them democracy, the rule of law, separation of powers, freedom of the press and Can invoke all other things. Whatever man needs. I don’t believe in a tool for financial freedom if that is the only freedom we are going to have.”
Fortunately, no one cares what Rauda believes. Except for Alex Gladstein, who made the mistake of inviting him to the Oslo Freedom Forum. gladstein Continued tweets against Bukele And their politics, but, did they have to invite a foreign-sponsored pseudo-journalist about bitcoin at its worst? Didn’t he find a well-versed critic in this subject? Maybe not. Because anyone who understands bitcoin will immediately realize that Salvador now has access to hard money. And it will change their lives in a way that no one can imagine.
And that is our Oslo Freedom Forum coverage. If you want more, there’s plenty more: One, Two, three, four, Five, six, Seven,
Featured Image: Ire Aderinokun screenshot from this video| Charts by TradingView