"Residents withdrew over 1.6 trillion rubles, or $19.7 billion in January, desperately turning to cash amid increased state controls."

As governments push CBDCs to clamp down on dissent and capital flight, is Bitcoin our last line of defense for true sovereignty? Today with the Financial Freedom Report we dive into global news - from Hong Kong's surveillance crackdowns to offline AI-Bitcoin kits like BlackBox - plus my take on why Lightning could make digital cash frictionless. Will these innovations outpace authoritarian overreach, or is the cashless trap closing in?

Check out the original article from the Financial Freedom Report: Financial Freedom Report #115 (Link: https://hrf.org/latest/hrfs-weekly-financial-freedom-report-115/)

References from the episode

Nostr VPN: A tool released by early Bitcoin developer Martti Malmi (Link: https://github.com/mmalmi/nostr-vpn)
BlackBox: An Experimental Kit for Offline AI, Messaging, and Bitcoin. Still experimental, but super intriguing. (Link: https://blackbox.host/)
Check out the MIT Bitcoin Expo 2026 details: this year's edition is titled "Freedom for All". (Link: https://mitbitcoinexpo.org/)

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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Read_937 - When the Withdraws Start [FFR 115]

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