Everyone has heard the saying ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ and for good reason. The playful side of yourself might suggest, money could solve everything. However, your more pragmatic side would ultimately have you agree that there are of course problems that money cannot solve.

As bitcoin has become the most successful experiment to date in creating a self-sovereign money, there is a need to shift away from the narrative that Bitcoin, and only Bitcoin, can be most effective in contributing to the topic of human rights protection and promotion. A hardcore focus on money as a solution only acts as a blinder to the potential of other tools for promoting human rights and providing redress for human rights violations.

There are very few people who speak on the intersection between human rights and the crypto-blockchain space. However, those who do - such as Alex Gladstien – place a noticeable emphasis on Bitcoin being the tool of choice. Alex Gladstien goes as far as to suggest that it is only Bitcoin that is most useful, specifically when used in alleviating the issues faced by those living under authoritarian regimes. Those living under such regimes equate to over 53% of the total global population.

This article does not disagree with the notion that Bitcoin, its design, and the principles it has baked into its construction have incredible potential in the realm of human rights protection. Bitcoin is censorship resistant, seizure resistance and permissionless. It is borderless, pseudonymous, programmable and peer-to-peer. All these features make it a powerful freedom tool for individuals to protect themselves from malicious regimes who seek to control important facets of people’s lives, such as money. Moreover, all one needs is internet access. This is not always a given but is becoming increasingly more accessible around the world.

It can be used as a hedge against hyper-inflationary fiat currencies. It levels the financial playing field for those participating with its set-in-stone monetary policy. It can be used as a fundraising tool and it can be used as a tool by human rights defenders to allocate and receive funds.

There is clearly a lot of untapped potential, but is that it?

A focus on Bitcoin as a solution is a focus on money as a solution. This blinds us to the potential of other tools blockchain technology enables. How do we organize where money is going and what it is being used to do? Can money alone make money productive?

There are so many ways to look at the topic of human rights. While money can go a long way, it can only go so far. It must work in concert with initiatives making use of social coordination tools and efforts to change hearts, minds and the lived realities of those burdened by human rights violations.

This article proposes that social coordination tools enabled by blockchain networks such as Ethereum offer as much, if not more, to those in pursuit of better protection and promotion of human rights. Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and other blockchain networks have unlocked a world of potential. This began with the proliferation of decentralised finance (DeFi) but has seen the explosion in NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens), the creation of numerous DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organizations) and the paradigm-shifting play-to-earn gaming space, among other innovative developments.

Ultimately, these are tools for social coordination. A way to align incentives, add value and crowd source funding, knowledge and labour. With these social coordination tools, one is able to align economic incentives with contributing to particular causes.

An example of this is KLIMADAO, a decentralised autonomous organisation that has created a carbon-backed, algorithmic token with the goal of accelerating the price appreciation of carbon assets. By doing so, with the base objective forcing of “…companies and economies to adapt more quickly to the realities of climate change and makes low-carbon technologies and carbon-removal projects more profitable”. As of writing, KLIMADAO has over 9,721,693 Tonnes of CO2 worth in its treasury. Token-holders gain from the DAOs pursuit as their carbon-backed tokens appreciate with value, as more tokens are bought and held carbon-credits are made scarcer and more expensive.

The same tooling that enables this can enable an initiative such as a decentralized community-owned investment fund that has the objective of crowdsourcing funds to buy up positions in companies to steer their approach towards human rights, labour rights and environmental issues. DAOs now also have the tools to enable decentralised governance that add a whole other layer to what you can do in the space. From a business and human rights perspective, this could be one of the more effective means of instigating tangible change in the field.

goodvibesDAO is a DAO that seeks to utilize web3 tools to build community-owned products and services that contribute to social good. Through aligning economic incentives, this DAO is working to create an ecosystem that allows for funds to be allocated towards social good initiatives with decentralised governance.

These are of course just a couple of examples of what is possible. James Cooper and Peter Grazul have written on the application of NFTs and the right to self-determination. Others have used the artist empowering nature of NFTs to enable their activism even further through building in royalties. As this technology develops, so will the ideas employing them in the human rights field and possibilities will widen further.

Social coordination tools on Blockchain networks offer the human rights field a plethora of tools to approach human rights protection and promotion in a decentralised, borderless and permissionless way. It enables for solutions that do not hinge on the transacting of money, however this too can be central to aligning incentives within an initiative.

Thanawat Thomas // SabaiSquared

MPhil/PhD Law Candidate at Birkbeck, University of London, researching regional human rights protection in Southeast Asia. Founded Anspar, a NFT applications marketplace and Three Pillars Gaming, a blockchain-gaming focused e-sports team. Co-Host of the Block Exploring Podcast. Spreading goodvibesDAO! Follow me on: Twitter - @sabaisquared or Check out my personal site: www.threepillarsgaming.com/sabaisquared.

Everyone has heard the saying ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ and for good reason. The playful side of yourself might suggest, money could solve everything. However, your more pragmatic side would ultimately have you agree that there are of course problems that money cannot solve.

As bitcoin has become the most successful experiment to date in creating a self-sovereign money, there is a need to shift away from the narrative that Bitcoin, and only Bitcoin, can be most effective in contributing to the topic of human rights protection and promotion. A hardcore focus on money as a solution only acts as a blinder to the potential of other tools for promoting human rights and providing redress for human rights violations.

There are very few people who speak on the intersection between human rights and the crypto-blockchain space. However, those who do - such as Alex Gladstien – place a noticeable emphasis on Bitcoin being the tool of choice. Alex Gladstien goes as far as to suggest that it is only Bitcoin that is most useful, specifically when used in alleviating the issues faced by those living under authoritarian regimes. Those living under such regimes equate to over 53% of the total global population.

This article does not disagree with the notion that Bitcoin, its design, and the principles it has baked into its construction have incredible potential in the realm of human rights protection. Bitcoin is censorship resistant, seizure resistance and permissionless. It is borderless, pseudonymous, programmable and peer-to-peer. All these features make it a powerful freedom tool for individuals to protect themselves from malicious regimes who seek to control important facets of people’s lives, such as money. Moreover, all one needs is internet access. This is not always a given but is becoming increasingly more accessible around the world.

It can be used as a hedge against hyper-inflationary fiat currencies. It levels the financial playing field for those participating with its set-in-stone monetary policy. It can be used as a fundraising tool and it can be used as a tool by human rights defenders to allocate and receive funds.

There is clearly a lot of untapped potential, but is that it?

A focus on Bitcoin as a solution is a focus on money as a solution. This blinds us to the potential of other tools blockchain technology enables. How do we organize where money is going and what it is being used to do? Can money alone make money productive?

There are so many ways to look at the topic of human rights. While money can go a long way, it can only go so far. It must work in concert with initiatives making use of social coordination tools and efforts to change hearts, minds and the lived realities of those burdened by human rights violations.

This article proposes that social coordination tools enabled by blockchain networks such as Ethereum offer as much, if not more, to those in pursuit of better protection and promotion of human rights. Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and other blockchain networks have unlocked a world of potential. This began with the proliferation of decentralised finance (DeFi) but has seen the explosion in NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens), the creation of numerous DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organizations) and the paradigm-shifting play-to-earn gaming space, among other innovative developments.

Ultimately, these are tools for social coordination. A way to align incentives, add value and crowd source funding, knowledge and labour. With these social coordination tools, one is able to align economic incentives with contributing to particular causes.

An example of this is KLIMADAO, a decentralised autonomous organisation that has created a carbon-backed, algorithmic token with the goal of accelerating the price appreciation of carbon assets. By doing so, with the base objective forcing of “…companies and economies to adapt more quickly to the realities of climate change and makes low-carbon technologies and carbon-removal projects more profitable”. As of writing, KLIMADAO has over 9,721,693 Tonnes of CO2 worth in its treasury. Token-holders gain from the DAOs pursuit as their carbon-backed tokens appreciate with value, as more tokens are bought and held carbon-credits are made scarcer and more expensive.

The same tooling that enables this can enable an initiative such as a decentralized community-owned investment fund that has the objective of crowdsourcing funds to buy up positions in companies to steer their approach towards human rights, labour rights and environmental issues. DAOs now also have the tools to enable decentralised governance that add a whole other layer to what you can do in the space. From a business and human rights perspective, this could be one of the more effective means of instigating tangible change in the field.

goodvibesDAO is a DAO that seeks to utilize web3 tools to build community-owned products and services that contribute to social good. Through aligning economic incentives, this DAO is working to create an ecosystem that allows for funds to be allocated towards social good initiatives with decentralised governance.

These are of course just a couple of examples of what is possible. James Cooper and Peter Grazul have written on the application of NFTs and the right to self-determination. Others have used the artist empowering nature of NFTs to enable their activism even further through building in royalties. As this technology develops, so will the ideas employing them in the human rights field and possibilities will widen further.

Social coordination tools on Blockchain networks offer the human rights field a plethora of tools to approach human rights protection and promotion in a decentralised, borderless and permissionless way. It enables for solutions that do not hinge on the transacting of money, however this too can be central to aligning incentives within an initiative.

Thanawat Thomas // SabaiSquared

MPhil/PhD Law Candidate at Birkbeck, University of London, researching regional human rights protection in Southeast Asia. Founded Anspar, a NFT applications marketplace and Three Pillars Gaming, a blockchain-gaming focused e-sports team. Co-Host of the Block Exploring Podcast. Spreading goodvibesDAO! Follow me on: Twitter - @sabaisquared or Check out my personal site: www.threepillarsgaming.com/sabaisquared.