Alex Gladstein is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation(HRF) and a guest lecturer at Singularity University. Before working at HRF, he also served as Vice President of Strategy for the Oslo Freedom Forum. The main aim of HRF is to empower citizens in the countries that are prone to human rights violations and enable them to rise above the existing autocratic regimes. Through his work, Alex has collaborated with key stakeholders across the globe to promote the creation of societies that are both free and open. The HRF seeks to drive home the message that the development of technology, freedom and individual rights are intertwined which is why the proliferation of bitcoin and other decentralised technologies assumes such an important role as we chart the way forward for human civilisations in the years to come.

1:24 - Introduction to the Human Rights Foundation | 5:42 - Alex’s roles and responsibilities | 7:07 - Using emerging technologies to tackle authoritarianism | 13:47 - Alex’s first introduction to Bitcoin | 15:37 - Difficulties in retail adoption of cryptocurrencies | 22:57 - Scope of Bitcoin in countries with unstable fiat currencies | 30:04 - ‘Bitcoin is insurance against an Orwellian future’ | 35:00 - Censorship in India | 39:10 - Combating data centralisation in ubiquitous technologies | 42:48 - The current wave of populism sweeping the globe | 47:11 - How to get involved with the HRF?