May 13, 2025

The Bitcoin Privilege Gap: Alex Gladstein on Freedom, Money, and Human Rights

Show Notes

Alex Gladstein – Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation

In episode 15 of reDeFined, Jeremy Almond sits down with Alex Gladstein to explore how Bitcoin is evolving into the infrastructure layer for freedom.

From authoritarian regimes to off-grid energy in Africa, Alex shares how Bitcoin is transforming access to electricity, finance, and human rights around the world. This conversation goes beyond ideology—unpacking real-world use cases in savings, commerce, privacy, and energy. Alex also touches on themes from his book Check Your Financial Privilege , offering powerful insights into the global inequality Bitcoin seeks to address.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Why most people in the West don’t get Bitcoin

01:11 – The origin of the Human Rights Foundation

03:25 – Why human rights funding rarely reaches authoritarian regimes

05:51 – Early work with North Korean defectors

07:00 – Why Bitcoin is the next generation of freedom tech

10:00 – What financial privilege really means

13:00 – Four real-world use cases for Bitcoin

19:00 – Why privacy, energy, and incentives matter

23:00 – How HRF uses Bitcoin for grants and operations

26:00 – Why NGOs and companies should hold Bitcoin, not sell it

29:00 – Final message: get involved – Bitcoin needs you