Belarus Revolution Funded By Bitcoin And Ethereum

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The eyes of the world, and then mostly those in Europe and Russia, are upon Belarus, the country in turmoil landlocked in between Eastern Europe and the empire of Vladimir Putin. By now, several millions dollars have been raised to support the opposition movement in Belarus against President Lukashenko who refuses to step aside after international observers ruled that last month’s elections were fraudulent.

A non-profit by tech entrepreneurs in Belarus is using Bitcoin to help dissidents get around repression and financial monitoring.@baidakova reports.https://t.co/7Lz6iTv6Us

— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) September 9, 2020

His cronies do not want to abandon their position and have already seized bank accounts and funds belonging to the small official opposition parties, but that is not taking into account the possibilities that crypto offers. Even with internet shutdowns and threats to get help from Russia, crypto support is unwavering.

Facebook funds

By now, calls on Facebook have been followed by many and funds are pouring in to be distributed so that opposition can be organized and anyone who wishes to participate in rallies against the regime can do so.

Dutch NGO is Sending Bitcoin Aid to Protestors in #Belarus - #AlexanderLukashenko #AlexeyKuzmenkov #BelarusianSolidarityFund #ForkLog #Netherlands #Technology #TrusteeWallet #YaroslavLikhachevsky #YevgenyRomanenko - https://t.co/4yuwjERbMK pic.twitter.com/xQ930M9dkR

— PaulCrypto.com (@PaulESamson) September 4, 2020

What is most surprising in this 2020 uprising is the role of crypto. Whereas we saw yesterday that Bitcoin is now finding a new role in Africa as an actual means of payment, in Belarus it is being used to organize a revolution.

As no one can control the price of Bitcoin (or Ethereum) and governments cannot block the flow of money via the blockchain, revolutionary voices on social media are using the means of payment to keep the money entering into Belarus without President Lukashenko being able to touch it.

Via the website Belaruswithme, supporters of the opposition movement can see how much has been raised in crypto already and to which address further funds can be sent.

Eugene Romanenko, a Belarusian blockchain expert, claimed that:

More and more people are learning that cryptocurrencies can be used to solve real-life problems.