Bitcoin comes to the rescue of protesters after banks and fintech apps ban fundraising accounts in Nigeria.
Young Nigerians around the world have been protesting for days against police brutality after years of misconduct, especially by the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS).
Several protests are going on nationwide in what is being called the biggest youth movement in the West African nation in recent times. As part of these protests, various organizations have set up funds to provide supporters for individuals on the ground.
Well-known social justice activists, The Feminist Coalition Group, manage one of the largest funds. According to the group, financial accounts holding and receiving funds have been suspended today.
For demanding an end to police brutality we are now under attack! Our bank account has been deactivated and so has the Flutterwave donation link. Our members lives are also being threatened! #SARSMustEnd
— feministcoalition (@feminist_co) October 13, 2020
The group’s bank account has been suspended, and the link for donations on popular Fintech platform Flutterwave has also been diactivated.
These events have led to a pause in donations that are being used to purchase essential supplies during the #ENDSARS protests.
Bitcoin To The Rescue
To fight attempts to censor protests by making funding impossible, The Feminist Coalition Group is asking donors to use bitcoin (BTC) instead.
The group announced this in a tweet:
If you still want to donate here’s our BTC address: 1CWdxSTKang1toEv2an1AY3z8cuwiapyno#SARSMUSTEND https://t.co/oE1FNGmbfg
— feministcoalition (@feminist_co) October 13, 2020
This is another major use case for bitcoin as more Nigerians continue to adopt cryptocurrencies. The #EndSARS protests are decentralized. Protesters have repeatedly echoed the need for a leaderless campaign led by every individual participating in the protest.
The decentralized protest meets decentralized finance. There have been over 50 transactions related to the address at the time of writing and about $3,000 raised so far.
Update (14/10/20) – Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey has also mentioned the protest in several tweets today. In one of the tweets, Jack asked people to donate via bitcoin to support the protest.
https://twitter.com/jack/status/1316485283777519620?s=20
