Crypto News
Human Rights Foundation Donates $500,000 to 15 Bitcoin Projects

Earlier today, The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) announced their latest round of philanthropic efforts from their Bitcoin Development Fund. These 15 grants from HRF are focused on worldwide education, Bitcoin Core development, lightning-related DLCs, ecash, and providing developers from repressive regimes financial aid to offset travel costs in order to speak at Bitcoin events across the world, with a noted focus on projects and contributors from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
The grant program includes 7 $50,000 grants, 5 $25,000 grants, and 3 $10,000 grants, totaling just over half a million US dollars, or about 19 bitcoin at time of publishing. This announcement comes only a few months after the launch of their 20 bitcoin bounty challenge, bringing the HRF’s pledged contributions to bettering both Bitcoin and the working lives of those developing it to nearly 40 bitcoin since just the end of July.
So far, only the “Open Sourcing the Design Guide” bounty has been claimed and half of the “End-to-End Encrypted Nostr Group Chats” bounty has been claimed. Bounties will be open until December 31, 2024, with more updates and details available here.
As for the newly announced grant winners themselves, $50,000 will be given to Gee Deer for his work on Bitcoin Core and Lightning native stablecoins. Using Discrete Log Contracts (DLCs), Gee’s proposed stablecoin will attempt to minimize counterparty risk and increase potential decentralization of US dollar instruments. Gee will also continue assisting developers, examining code, and further testing Bitcoin Core.
Jarol Rodriguez will get $50,000 for his contributions to Bitcoin Core. Jarol will make use of the money to evaluate PRs and solve problems in Bitcoin Core, increase developer education, enhance the Bitcoin Core App — a free and open-source project regarded as the standard implementation of a Bitcoin node — and contribute to making it feasible to operate a Bitcoin Core node on a mobile device.
$50,000 will be given to Furszy for his contribution to Bitcoin Core, where he ranks in the top 10. By analyzing PRs, correcting bugs, suggesting performance and code improvements, and adding to public debates and discourse, he will be able to use this funding to continue making crucial contributions to improving the stability, performance, and security of Bitcoin Core’s software.
Summer of Bitcoin will receive $50,000 to fund their summer fellowship program. The goal of the international, online Summer of Bitcoin internship program is to familiarize college students with Bitcoin programming and design. More than 10,000 individuals from more than 70 nations applied to the 2023 program. Click here to apply and learn more about the summer program.
Justin Moeller will get $50,000 for his work on Fedimint. Justin will concentrate on putting in place a database migration system that will let guardians upgrade their Fedimint servers without constraint. Additionally, he will look at Fedimint’s current performance in order to find and improve the usage of ecash for users.
Giving the Kawaakibi Foundation $50,000 will help them create a MENA Bitcoin Hub. In order to help liberate one of the most repressive regions in the world, the MENA Bitcoin HUB will instruct activists, journalists, and organizations on how to use Bitcoin to transact freely, receive foreign donations, and retain their money safely and pseudonymously.
$50,000 will be awarded to Vinteum for their efforts to advance open source Bitcoin development in Brazil and Latin America. Funding will be used by Vinteum to help Latin American Bitcoin Core developers, cultivate Bitcoin communities, and establish a developer pipeline education program in the region.
Revolutionary cypherpunk D++ will receive $25,000 for her work on FOSS projects and worldwide educational activities. By offering talks and workshops at conferences in the Global South, hosting a free Bitcoin bootcamp and continuing maintaining Bitcoin Core and other FOSS projects, D++ will utilize funding to carry out worldwide Bitcoin education.
Bitcoin Ekasi, for their work creating a circular Bitcoin economy in South Africa, will receive $25,000. The money will be used to onboard new neighborhood companies to Bitcoin, pay the wages of coaches, instructors, and lifeguards, and run a skill development center to impart practical knowledge and Bitcoin expertise to the neighborhood. In the upcoming years, HRF anticipates that more villages in Africa will follow Bitcoin Ekasi’s lead.
Amiti Uttarwar will get $25,000 for her efforts on Bitcoin mentoring, ADDRMAN, and Bitcoin Bytes. The money will enable Amiti to coach Bitcoin Core developers to help them reach their full potential, enhance ADDRMAN to make Bitcoin nodes more secure and private, and continue her work on Bitcoin Bytes to serve as a platform for educating people about Bitcoin.
Ben Perrin will receive $25,000 to support his channel promoting global Bitcoin education. Ben teaches people about Bitcoin and is the host of the BTC Sessions on YouTube and X. Ben will be able to utilize funding to produce instructional materials aimed at educating dissidents on how to securely use Bitcoin as well as deliver in-person and online trainings and workshops to NGOs.
La Librería de Satoshi (Library of Satoshi) will receive $25,000 in support of its efforts to make technical education available to as many Spanish-speaking people as possible. To enable Spanish developers to become Bitcoin Core Contributors, Bitcoin technical Educators, developer advocates, and ecosystem entrepreneurs, La Librería de Satoshi will utilize the grant money to offer Bitcoin and Lightning courses.
With $10,000 in travel awards to three individual events, HRF will aid in financing the attendance of Bitcoin developers from challenging political environments. Awardees include the technical Bitcoin conference, TabConf, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this month, as well as the largest Bitcoin conference in Brazil, Satsconf, in Sao Paulo this November, and the upcoming Bitcoin++, a serialized developer conference currently dedicated to Nix and software reproducibility this October in Berlin, Germany.
“The Human Rights Foundation remains committed to advancing access to financial technology,” explained Christian Keroles, the Financial Freedom Director for HRF. “We believe this round of grants furthers both technical and educational causes to make Bitcoin more accessible globally, especially for the people who need it most.”
The Bitcoin Development Fund is open year-round where educators, developers, and meetups can apply for funding by sending a proposal to dev.fund@hrf.org. The majority of the following announced grants have already been paid out, with the remaining payouts being made shortly.
More details on the grants, the HRF and the Bitcoin Development Fund can be found here.
The new grants focus on furthering worldwide Bitcoin education, Core development, DLCs, ecash, and financial aid for developers from repressive regimes.
Crypto News
Proton Wallet — Now Available To Everyone — Is A Great Starter Self-Custodial Bitcoin Wallet

In July of last year, Swiss privacy tech company Proton (makers of Proton Mail) announced it would be launching its own bitcoin wallet — Proton Wallet.
I (along with about 100,000 other users) was given early access to the wallet to test it out and was impressed with the wallet’s user interface. I particularly liked that it allows you to link a user’s email address to their bitcoin address so that you only need to input the email address when sending bitcoin.
You can read my review of the wallet here.
Now that the wallet is available to the general public, I will recommend it to anyone I know who’s finally ready to move their bitcoin out of the hands of an exchange and into their own custody. I’ll also recommend it to anyone looking to make semi-regular bitcoin payments on-chain with a relatively small amount of bitcoin.
My reasons for recommending the wallet are as follows:
- It’s free to use (users can create up to three wallets and have up to three accounts in each wallet, which is sufficient for most users — more on that here; to create more wallets or accounts, Proton charges a fee)
- It’s easy to set up (you aren’t required to write down the 12-word seed phrase when you set up the wallet; however, it’s good practice to do so!)
- Like Proton Mail, Proton has no access to Proton Wallet user data, nor does it have access to its users’ private bitcoin keys
- Using an email address (which doesn’t have to be a Proton Mail address) to send bitcoin reduces the likelihood of inputting the wrong bitcoin address into the recipient field of a transaction
- You can select the priority speed of a transaction when sending bitcoin
- You can purchase bitcoin via Ramp or Banxa using Proton Wallet, enabling the bitcoin you purchase to be transferred directly into your custody
The only downsides to the wallet is that it doesn’t support Lightning transactions (consider the Breez SDK, Proton team!), and it doesn’t let you manage your UTXOs (loose change from bitcoin transactions, in layperson’s terms).
The latter isn’t super important, though, as, again, I’d recommend this wallet to those new to bitcoin self custody. UTXO management is more of a practice for moderate to advanced Bitcoin users.
All in all, Proton has created yet another fine product here for its 100 million users and counting, and it’s one that I’ll be recommending to Bitcoin newbies moving forward.
This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
Proton Wallet is well-suited for anyone looking to begin their bitcoin self custody journey and/or anyone looking to make semi-frequent payments on-chain while managing a relatively small bitcoin stack.
Crypto News
El Salvador Is Still Bitcoin Country

El Salvador is still Bitcoin country, despite the fact that bitcoin is no longer legal tender in the country — at least from where I’m sitting.
Let’s start with some background on the matter.
On January 29, 2025, the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador voted to remove bitcoin’s status as legal tender.
This means that businesses in the country no longer have to accept bitcoin (not that this rule was ever strictly enforced while bitcoin was classified as legal currency, as far as I know; however, I have been told that big businesses that operate in the country (e.g., McDonalds, Walmart) may stop accepting bitcoin as payment now, which could have a detrimental effect on adoption).
This change occurred approximately one month after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) struck a deal with authorities in El Salvador that stipulated the following:
- El Salvador would receive a $1.4 billion loan to support the government’s “reform agenda”
- Bitcoin-related risks be mitigated; bitcoin acceptance in the private sector must be voluntary, while the public sector’s participation in Bitcoin-related activities would be “confined” (bitcoin can no longer be used to settle government debts or pay taxes)
- Operations for the government-created Bitcoin wallet, Chivo, would be “unwound”
While the news of the Salvadoran government’s reversing its policy on bitcoin as legal tender as a result of influence from the IMF feels like a gut punch even to me, someone who isn’t Salvadoran and doesn’t live in the country, I can’t help but believe that El Salvador is still Bitcoin country.
And this feeling has only grown stronger based on what I’ve seen Bitcoiners in El Salvador posting on X.
Evelyn Lemus, co-founder and Director of Education at Bitcoin Berlin, a Bitcoin circular economy within the country, doesn’t plan to stop teaching everyday Salvadorans about Bitcoin.
Just saying it out loud.
Bitcoiners will not stop teaching about Bitcoin and making the adoption happen just because Bitcoin is not legal tender anymore. This means we need to keep pushing harder and keep doing what we do 🇸🇻
LFG🙌
Bitcoin in the hands of people 🫡 pic.twitter.com/hnMpJmL5c7— Evelyn Lemus (@Evelynlemus2906) February 2, 2025
The team at Bit Driver don’t plan to change their business model — accepting bitcoin as taxi fare — any time soon.
We’re still a Bitcoin a company.
— Bitdriver (@bitdriver_sv) February 2, 2025
While John Dennehy, founder of Mi Primer Bitcoin, expressed concern about the government of El Salvador’s rolling back its policy on bitcoin as legal currency, he and the ever-growing team at Mi Primer Bitcoin plan to double down on the work they’re doing.
Good morning from El Salvador!
We are now in DAY NINE since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective after 90 days)
This means grassroots, independent Bitcoin education is now MORE important than ever
In response, at… pic.twitter.com/iTXdf0gAoL
— John Dennehy (@jdennehy_writes) February 7, 2025
The legendary Max and Stacy haven’t publicly voiced any plans to give up on El Salvador anytime soon.
And El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, run by Stacy, is still stacking bitcoin and helping to run Bitcoin education programs in the country.
🇸🇻EL SALVADOR STACKS ANOTHER 1 BTC TO STRATEGIC RESERVE
El Salvador is still stacking.
Every day.
➡️Total SBR Holdings: 6,071.18 BTC
➡️Total Added Today: +1 BTC
➡️Total Added Past 7 Days: +22 BTC
➡️Total Added Past 30 Days: +60 BTC… pic.twitter.com/y4kv2693BX— The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) February 7, 2025
The lesson here is that while the law around Bitcoin may have changed in El Salvador, the Bitcoiners on the ground in the country have hardly flinched.
Because we are Bitcoin, what matters most is that everyday Salvadorans and everyone else involved in the Bitcoin movement in El Salvador continues to push forward with the Bitcoin mission.
The IMF may have landed a blow, but Bitcoiners in El Salvador remain steadfast in their efforts to foster broader Bitcoin adoption.
El Salvador is still Bitcoin country.
This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
Bitcoin may no longer be legal tender in El Salvador, but Bitcoiners in the country haven’t given up on the mission.
Crypto News
Introducing the Bitcoin Everything Indicator

Wouldn’t it be great if we had one all-encompassing metric to guide our Bitcoin investing decisions? That’s precisely what has been created, the Bitcoin Everything Indicator. Recently added to Bitcoin Magazine Pro, this indicator aims to consolidate multiple metrics into a single framework, making Bitcoin analysis and investment decision-making more streamlined.
For a more in-depth look into this topic, check out a recent YouTube video here: The Official Bitcoin EVERYTHING Indicator
Why We Need a Comprehensive Indicator
Investors and analysts typically rely on various metrics, such as on-chain data, technical analysis, and derivative charts. However, focusing too much on one aspect can lead to an incomplete understanding of Bitcoin’s price movements. The Bitcoin Everything Indicator attempts to solve this by integrating key components into one clear metric.
The Core Components of the Bitcoin Everything Indicator
Bitcoin’s price action is deeply influenced by global liquidity cycles, making macroeconomic conditions a fundamental pillar of this indicator. The correlation between Bitcoin and broader financial markets, especially in terms of Global M2 money supply, is clear. When liquidity expands, Bitcoin typically appreciates.
Fundamental factors like Bitcoin’s halving cycles and miner strength play an essential role in its valuation. While halvings decrease new Bitcoin supply, their impact on price appreciation has diminished as over 94% of Bitcoin’s total supply is already in circulation. However, miner profitability remains crucial. The Puell Multiple, which measures miner revenue relative to historical averages, provides insights into market cycles. Historically, when miner profitability is strong, Bitcoin tends to be in a favorable position.
On-chain indicators help assess Bitcoin’s supply and demand dynamics. The MVRV Z-Score, for example, compares Bitcoin’s market cap to its realized cap (average purchase price of all coins). This metric identifies accumulation and distribution zones, highlighting when Bitcoin is overvalued or undervalued.
Another critical on-chain metric is the Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR), which examines the profitability of coins being spent. When Bitcoin holders realize massive profits, it often signals a market peak, whereas high losses indicate a market bottom.
The Bitcoin Crosby Ratio is a technical metric that assesses Bitcoin’s overextended or discounted conditions purely based on price action. This ensures that market sentiment and momentum are also accounted for in the Bitcoin Everything Indicator.
Network usage can offer vital clues about Bitcoin’s strength. The Active Address Sentiment Indicator measures the percentage change in active addresses over 28 days. A rise in active addresses generally confirms a bullish trend, while stagnation or decline may signal price weakness.
How the Bitcoin Everything Indicator Works
By blending these various metrics, the Bitcoin Everything Indicator ensures that no single factor is given undue weight. Unlike models that rely too heavily on specific signals, such as the MVRV Z-Score or the Pi Cycle Top, this indicator distributes influence equally across multiple categories. This prevents overfitting and allows the model to adapt to changing market conditions.
Historical Performance vs. Buy-and-Hold Strategy
One of the most striking findings is that the Bitcoin Everything Indicator has outperformed a simple buy-and-hold strategy since Bitcoin was valued at under $6. Using a strategy of accumulating Bitcoin during oversold conditions and gradually selling in overbought zones, investors using this model would have significantly increased their portfolio’s performance with lower drawdowns.
For instance, this model maintains a 20% drawdown compared to the 60-90% declines typically seen in Bitcoin’s history. This suggests that a well-balanced, data-driven approach can help investors make more informed decisions with reduced downside risk.
Conclusion
The Bitcoin Everything Indicator simplifies investing by merging the most critical aspects influencing Bitcoin’s price action into a single metric. It has historically outperformed buy-and-hold strategies while mitigating risk, making it a valuable tool for both retail and institutional investors.
For more detailed Bitcoin analysis and to access advanced features like live charts, personalized indicator alerts, and in-depth industry reports, check out Bitcoin Magazine Pro.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.
A Single Metric to Rule Them All – The Bitcoin Everything Indicator combines multiple key metrics into one comprehensive tool for better investment decisions.
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