Read_931 - When The Internet Shuts Off [FFR 104]

9 snips

Feb 10, 2026

They explore what happens to money and communication when the internet is shut off by authoritarian regimes. Stories include Iran's currency collapse and Uganda's offline messaging surge. They highlight tools that keep information and payments working without traditional networks. The conversation pushes building resilient, censorship-resistant tech for real-world crises.

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INSIGHT

Money Collapse Fuels Political Upheaval

Iran's 98% currency collapse triggered nationwide protests and a violent state response including communications blackouts.
Guy highlights how monetary collapse, repression, and information control are tightly intertwined.

ANECDOTE

Antonopoulos Wins Finney Freedom Prize

The Finney Freedom Prize awarded 100 million satoshis to Andreas M. Antonopoulos for Bitcoin advocacy.
Guy recalls how Antonopoulos was pivotal to his early Bitcoin education and praises the prize and trophy design.

ANECDOTE

Uganda Adopts Offline Mesh Messaging

Hundreds of thousands in Uganda downloaded BitChat before an election blackout to form a Bluetooth mesh network.
The app let phones relay messages directly, preserving organization despite the internet shutdown.

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"Bitcoin is a lifeline. It is a money that cannot be shut down. Native money for the internet. But what happens when the internet gets shut off?"

Iran's currency collapses 98%, the government kills thousands and cuts every wire connecting its people to the outside world. Uganda shuts down the internet the day before an election. And somehow, hundreds of thousands of people find a way to communicate anyway. What does it actually look like when Bitcoin's promise meets the brutal reality of authoritarian control — and what happens when the very infrastructure it depends on disappears?

Check out the original article from the Financial Freedom Report: Financial Freedom Report #104 (Link: https://hrf.org/program/financial-freedom/financial-freedom-reports/)

References from the episode

Andreas Antonopoulos received the Finney Freedom Prize for the 2016–2020 era. Absolutely deserved. Look up the prize and the trophies Cryptografiti made — they're gorgeous.
Bitchat is the peer-to-peer Bluetooth messaging app that hundreds of thousands of Ugandans downloaded when their internet got shut down. Worth knowing about.
FEDI went fully open source on January 3rd — Bitcoin payments and encrypted messaging built on the Fedimint protocol.
Zeus wallet added support for South Africa's retail QR code standard via Money Badger — making Bitcoin spendable at everyday merchants from a self-custodial Lightning wallet.
Torreable is a new tool for publishing censorship-resistant websites as Tor onion services directly from your own computer.
Open Sats announced their 15th round of Bitcoin grants, including Braidpool and Dana Wallet.
Thor Halverson wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal arguing against just swapping one authoritarian for another in Venezuela.
Anna Chekovic did an interview with Unchained about how Bitcoin sustained Navalny's anti-corruption foundation after Russia kicked them out of the banking system.

Host Links

⁠Guy on Nostr ⁠(Link: http://tinyurl.com/2xc96ney)
⁠Guy on X ⁠(Link: https://twitter.com/theguyswann)
Guy on Instagram (Link: https://www.instagram.com/theguyswann)
Guy on TikTok (Link: https://www.tiktok.com/@theguyswann)
Guy on YouTube (Link: https://www.youtube.com/@theguyswann)
⁠Bitcoin Audible on X⁠ (Link: https://twitter.com/BitcoinAudible)
The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)

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HRF: The Human Rights Foundation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. Subscribe to HRF's Financial Freedom Newsletter today. (Link: https://mailchi.mp/hrf.org/financial-freedom-newsletter)
OFF: The Oslo Freedom Forum is a global human rights event by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), uniting voices from activism, journalism, tech, and beyond. Through powerful stories and collaboration, OFF advances freedom and human potential worldwide. Join us next June. (Link: https://oslofreedomforum.com/)