The Bitcoin Story of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize: Female Democratic Leader Fights Against Totalitarianism with BTC

How Venezuelan democratic leader Maria Corina Machado has used Bitcoin against authoritarian regimes and what this means for Bitcoin's global image. This article is based on an article by Byron Gilliam and is compiled, compiled and contributed by AididiaoJP, Foresight News. (Synopsis: Ethereum core developers warn: Paradigm and Wall Street are eliminating the spirit of decentralization and open source) (Background supplement: Bitcoin updates Core v30 “open OP_RETURN”, opposition fever: decentralization is dead) Maria Corina Machado received the news that she had won the Nobel Peace Prize while she was trapped. The “Iron Lady of Venezuela” and “Joan of Arc of Latin America” has been hiding since Nicolás Maduro threatened to impose “supreme justice” on her after the 2024 elections, which have clearly shown that she is the legitimate president of Venezuela. Machado reported that she has since experienced assassination attempts and kidnappings, but has refused to leave the country. She sent her three children to safety abroad, but chose to stay. According to the Nobel committee, “this choice has inspired millions of people.” It is an example that should resonate outside Venezuela: “Maria Corina Machado shows that the instrument of democracy is also an instrument of peace,” the commission added. One of these tools, Machado said, is Bitcoin. She told the Human Rights Foundation that the Maduro regime “weaponizes the financial system against its people,” citing hyperinflation, which was once as high as 10 million percent in 2018. Since 2008, the Venezuelan government has expropriated the savings of its citizens by removing 14 zeros from its national currency, equivalent to 1 million trillion bolivars today, to buy what a single bolívar could buy in 2008. “Holding a bag of candy is worth much more than owning a bag of national currency,” said one Venezuelan who was dispossessed, “because candy preserves its value.” Machado argues that bitcoin is a better and lower-cost store of value: “Some Venezuelans have found a lifeline in bitcoin, using it to protect their wealth and finance their escape.” However, Machado himself did not use it to escape. “Our campaign operates without banking channels,” Machado said. But they can still accept donations: “Unlike bank transfers, which the regime usually blocks, bitcoin donations cannot be confiscated.” In this sense, Bitcoin has helped Machado lead the fight against Maduro inside Venezuela. It has allowed many other Venezuelans to survive and resist Maduro. “Bitcoin bypasses the government-imposed exchange rate and helps many of our people,” Machado added. “It has evolved from a humanitarian tool to a vital means of resistance.” Another Venezuelan who protested, Jorge Hlesati of the Economic Inclusion Group, said this makes bitcoin part of a “technological strategy” to combat authoritarianism. “The key to defeating authoritarian regimes is universal access to free technologies like Bitcoin, Signal, and Nostr,” he wrote. Bitcoin, in particular, gave his compatriots “the ability to overcome Maduro's financial surveillance and repression.” Many parts of the world live in similar oppressive conditions. Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation estimates that “87% of humanity is born into either authoritarian regimes or a collapsing fiat currency system.” In that large part of the world, he explains, “the traditional banking system is simply no longer sufficient to effectively fund democratic work.” Bitcoin, however, is “maintaining the vibrancy of resistance” where government-issued currencies “cannot be used for basic human rights activities.” Gladstein said bitcoin is increasingly becoming the currency for these activities and is moving in the direction of “becoming the standard currency for human rights activism and beyond by 2030.” We are used to seeing Bitcoin's ambitious 2030 price target, but can it reach a larger activist goal? If it does, the Nobel committee could be credited with helping it. Gladstein noted that “the vast majority of Bitcoin critics live in the United States or Europe and are blinded by huge financial privileges.” By awarding the Peace Prize to an enthusiastic user, the Nobel Committee may help stamp out bias and improve Bitcoin's image in those 13% of the world that don't need it (except as an investment). For Machado, the main benefit of the Nobel Peace Prize is that she will be safer when she becomes more famous. “It boosted her recognition and increased the cost of trying to suppress and destroy her,” explains Gideon Ross of the Council on Foreign Relations. “By giving benevolent international public opinion recognition to her efforts, the Nobel Prize may protect her life.” The significance of the award for Bitcoin, then, is that Machado likewise gave her good-faith recognition of the oft-denigrated cryptocurrency, which could protect it from critics. Because only autocrats like Maduro would oppose free technology. Related reports Decentralization is the way out? Money is just a pretense, the purpose of capital is to control ideas Gen Z has decentralized weapons: Discord, cryptocurrencies and memes DeFi Regulation dawns U.S. Department of Justice: No more prosecutions for “unlicensed fund transfers” Decentralized software developers [Bitcoin stories of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize: Women democratic leaders rely on BTC to fight totalitarianism] This article was first published in BlockTempo's “Dynamic Trends - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media”.