Financial Freedom Report #89

By HRF in Bitcoin — Sep 11, 2025

Good morning, readers!

In Russia, the Kremlin is increasing efforts to push citizens onto its new state-run messenger app, Max. Voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram have been disabled, and new legislation requires all new phones to come with Max pre-installed. But the rollout has been riddled with bugs and mistrust, with even regime insiders admitting they avoid the app themselves.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is witnessing its most significant protests in years. Student-led demonstrations against new housing allowances for lawmakers were met with violent repression by police. More than 3,000 people were detained and even disappeared as law enforcement used force, tear gas, and water cannons on citizens. Unrest over political corruption now intersects with deeper frustrations around rising living costs, layoffs, and expanding military control.

In open-source news, NIP-EE is officially merged into the Nostr protocol, bringing end-to-end encrypted messaging powered by the MLS protocol. Once Nostr applications implement it, the upgrade promises more private and scalable group chats, offering journalists and human rights defenders another way to organize securely outside centralized platforms.

We close with a vibe coding tutorial by HRF’s Justin Moon, Alex Gladstein, and Jhanisse Vaca Daza. In it, they teach activists and dissidents how to vibe code a simple website. This offers a glimpse into how new AI tools can enhance activists’ work and impact, benefiting human rights and financial freedom.

Now, let’s dive in.

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GLOBAL NEWS

Russia | Pushes New State-Controlled Message App to Public

Russian officials are attempting to push the country onto a new state-run messaging app, Max, developed by the once-independent, now regime-controlled social media company VK. To do so, officials disabled voice calling on WhatsApp and Telegram and passed legislation requiring all new phones to come pre-installed with Max. The Kremlin aims to establish Max as the country’s primary communications platform. But the rollout has been plagued by bugs, poor call quality, and mistrust. Even regime insiders admit they avoid using Max on their main devices, preferring FaceTime or leveraging VPNs to access alternatives. “They made it clear that in the future, all other messengers will probably be blocked. Everyone will be forced onto Max,” a participant at the Kremlin’s New Media Festival told independent media outlet Meduza.

Indonesia | Police Violently Suppress Student-Led Protests

Indonesia experienced its largest protests in years as students, workers, and rights groups took to the streets against new lawmaker perks. In addition to their salaries, all 580 members of the House of Representatives now receive a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($3,075). This is nearly 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta. Police met demonstrators with violence and force, detaining 3,000, injuring 1,000, and killing 10 people nationwide. The unrest reflects mounting frustrations over eroding financial conditions defined by rising living costs, widespread layoffs, and new tax hikes. Officials have also pressured platforms like TikTok and Meta to curb protest content, with reports of X access being blocked amid the crackdown.

Nicaragua | Ortega-Murillo Regime Land Grab

On Aug. 5, 2025, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship passed a Border Territory Law that declared all land within 15 kilometers of Nicaragua’s borders to be state property. The measure nationalizes more than 14% of the country’s land, encompassing farms, cities, and Indigenous territories. It has left thousands of families unable to sell, inherit, or secure loans against their property. Local lawyers warn that affected residents have effectively been reduced to “squatters” on land they’ve lived on for generations. The law also creates a “special control zone,” granting more assets and control to military leadership. It is one of the largest acts of private property confiscation in decades.

Tanzania | TIPS Digital Payment System Growing Rapidly

Tanzania’s Instant Payment System (TIPS) more than doubled its transaction volume in 2024 to nearly $12 billion across 454 million transfers. TIPS is a state-run digital payment system developed and operated by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT). It centralizes everyday retail transactions and routes payments with financial surveillance. Recently, the Tanzanian regime mandated that all inbound international money transfers (think remittances) flow through TIPS. It also renewed the country’s ban on foreign currency use. TIPS’ centralized design, combined with the above mandates, creates the technical capacity for censorship and surveillance. In the hands of an increasingly autocratic regime, TIPS begins to resemble a de facto central bank digital currency (CBDC), and its evolution is worth monitoring closely.

North Korea | Hackers Using Fake Job Offers to Steal Digital Assets

Reuters reports that North Korean hackers increasingly use social engineering and fake job offers to infiltrate the digital asset industry and steal user funds. Victims describe elaborate interview processes run by fake recruiters impersonating major digital asset exchanges like Robinhood, Ripple, and Kraken. The sophisticated scams often lead to malware downloads and stolen assets. Researchers at SentinelOne and Validin, US-based cybersecurity firms, attribute the campaign to hackers working on behalf of North Korea’s regime. Pyongyang denies any such involvement. If true, it would fit a pattern of Pyongyang's better-known tactic of targeting digital asset exchanges. A reminder that dictatorships are not just surveilling financial activity but actively probing for weaknesses.

BITCOIN AND FREEDOM TECH NEWS

NIP-EE | Merged into Nostr Protocol

Last week, NIP-EE was merged into the Nostr protocol specifications. It brings end-to-end encrypted messaging to Nostr through the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol. Earlier Nostr encryption attempts either leaked metadata or didn’t support group messaging, making them unsuitable for private and scalable communications. NIP-EE solves this by introducing forward secrecy, post-compromise security, and truly private and confidential direct and group messages. While Nostr clients will need to adopt NIP-EE before end users can benefit, it could enhance human rights defenders' capacity to communicate in surveillant environments.

Macadamia Wallet | First Ecash Wallet to Implement Multi-Nut Payments

Macadamia, an iOS wallet for the Cashu ecash protocol, has become the first to implement multi-nut payments. Multi-nut payments allow ecash users to combine balances held at different mints (ecash custodians) into a single payment. This reduces custody risk by letting users spread funds across different custodians rather than being concentrated in one. For activists and journalists, multi-nut payments strengthen the resilience of ecash as a censorship-resistant payment tool. It opens the door to spending privately and at scale without trusting any single entity that could be pressured or shut down.

Bitchat | Adds Built-in Tor Support on Android

Bitchat, a Bluetooth-based offline messaging app vibe-coded by Block and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and ported to Android by developer calle, released its latest version on the Google Play Store with built-in Tor support. With it, Android Bitchat users gain increased privacy and resistance to surveillance in their communications. This makes Bitchat a more practical tool for uncensorable and private coordination and communications during pro-democracy protests and when dictators shut off the Internet.

Axewell UI | Alternative Bitaxe UI Project

Axewell UI is a new interface that integrates with the open-source Bitaxe firmware as an alternative to the default Axe OS. The availability of alternative UIs demonstrates the strength of open-source development: it encourages innovation, fosters user-driven improvements, and reduces reliance on a single software. This diversity ensures more resilient and adaptable tools for activists and small-scale miners in repressive environments.

My First Bitcoin | Releases Self-Paced Bitcoin Diploma

My First Bitcoin, a Central American initiative providing impartial and community-led Bitcoin education, announced its new self-paced Bitcoin Diploma course. The program is designed for beginners and takes about 10 hours to complete. It covers the history of money and Bitcoin fundamentals, using Bitcoin practically, and more. The project can help equip dissidents and those on the margins of the financial system with access to high-quality Bitcoin education. The program is rooted in financial freedom and designed to be digestible at each learner’s own pace. Check it out here.

Africa Free Routing | Announces Uyo Lightning Bootcamp

Africa Free Routing has opened registration for a Lightning Bootcamp, taking place from Nov. 4-8, 2025, at Café One in Uyo, Nigeria. This five-day event will train developers in Bitcoin fundamentals, Lightning network development, and real-world app building. Equipping local developers with the tools to create censorship-resistant financial applications strengthens grassroots innovation and advances the possibilities for freedom tools uniquely poised to address Nigeria’s local context. Register here.