Countless lives were changed on October 7th, 2023, and Yusef Mahmoud’s was no different. Even before the war, the Palestinian taxi driver couldn’t stand being a passive observer of unemployment and hunger, both prevalent in Gaza’s everyday life. In 2022 and early 2023, more than two million Gazans lacked access to clean water and an appropriate sewage system, while two-thirds of the population lived in poverty.

Against this backdrop, Yusef turned online for help. It was Ramadan of 2023 and he wondered if other Muslims across the globe would contribute with bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, that he could use to buy and distribute food for those in need and toys for children in Gaza. UK-based Bitcoiner Fumble was amongst those who answered his call.

“I quickly saw that Yusef was genuinely transferring over the support he received to people on the ground,” Fumble recalls. “As Bitcoiners sent satoshis (bitcoin’s smaller monetary units) to Yusef, he returned pictures of the donations’ impact on elderly people and orphans around him. The more proof I saw of his work, the more I wanted to help, and that’s when I suggested Geyser as a means for Yusef to organize his initiative and scale up the project.”

In April 2023, Yusef launched a project on Geyser, a global Bitcoin crowdfunding platform, to raise more funds and provide food and potable water to Palestinian civilians in need.

When the going got tougher, support followed

Within the following months, Yusef’s project took on new dimensions. The situation in Gaza was aggravated due to the military occupation, which displaced 85% of Gaza’s population and halted economic activities, further worsening poverty and unemployment. Demand for food and water escalated and Yusef switched focus from supporting families during Ramadan to providing everyday essentials for civilians in need.

Between April 2023 and May 2024, more than 1,500 people had donated to the cause. This has enabled Yusef to repeatedly buy food and potable water for 20,000 families in Gaza, each with an average of five to seven members. About 500 of the people he helps are orphans.

Fumble explains that having a Geyser project made it easier for people to support Yusef’s efforts. Today, Yusef relies on these donations to continually source tinned food, baby supplies, potable water, bags of flour, clothing, and access to medication for civilians. Donations have also been ensuring that Yusef has enough credit on his e-SIM card to stay connected and up-to-date on what the community needs, and so he can access the donations received through the project.

“More people over here are now using Bitcoin, there’s no other way.”

Within two months of the start of the war, unemployment in Gaza had surged to 79.3%. Locals lack sources of income and access to water, sanitation, healthcare, and education. Half of the local population are children. Meanwhile, even those who had savings in the bank found themselves unable to make transactions.

“During wars, you’re left with only the change you had in your wallet,” Yusef explains over a glitchy call, where Fumble is also present to help bridge our language gap. “Bank apps in our phones are down and banks are freezing accounts in Gaza. We only have cash or Bitcoin.”

Fumble explains that the Palestinian economy runs on the Israeli shekel and that Gaza’s financial system is almost completely dependent on Israel, which must approve the movement of cash into the area.”The occupation is why payment processors don’t facilitate it, and it is the reason why Israel has control over transactions that come to their banks,” says Fumble.

Because of this, many Palestinians relied on contacts from abroad to manage or access their funds, but tales abound of people who trusted someone to receive their money only to find that the person wouldn’t pass it over to its rightful owner. Those who do pass on the money often charge a steep fee upwards of 30%.

For people like Yusef, Bitcoin emerged stronger than ever as an alternative. Its peer-to-peer, permissionless nature enables him to bypass financial and platform barriers to get aid from abroad and help people on the ground. Additionally, fees to exchange bitcoin into fiat money are around 5%, making it cheaper and faster than the alternative. “You can see why more people over here are now using Bitcoin; there’s no other way,” Yusef shares.

Additionally, other crowdfunding platforms either don’t operate in Gaza or have blacklisted it, so you can’t use them to send or receive funds if you’re registered in Palestine. Geyser continues to enable people in this location to raise funds using bitcoin, with added precautions such as requiring users to ID themselves to ensure funds are not being used to support sanctioned individuals.

“Citizens have no fault in this war, that’s why I help them.”

To further complicate the economic situation in Gaza, many families are separated by enforced displacement as Palestinian men are detained at scale while their families are told to flee. “Fathers were the key breadwinners in Gaza, and many families are now left to fend for themselves. These are the people most often coming to my door asking for help,” says Yusef.

To help them, Yusef regularly drives to Rafah in search of supplies. The commute isn’t easy. Dislocation across Gaza makes Yusef more vulnerable to being targeted while thorough inspections by military forces restrict the goods coming into Rafah from Egypt. “Supplies are being deliberately restricted,” explains Fumble. “There’s no anesthetic, no insulin, medical respirators are punctured… Even a pair of medical scissors may be considered a weapon and used as an excuse to reject a batch of supplies. Not to mention trucks are deliberately being delayed so the food goes bad.” When asked about what motivates him to carry on, Yusef replies simply: “Citizens have no fault in this war, that’s why I help them.”

But there are also good days. In March 2024, Yusef managed to buy 2,700 chickens from Egypt to feed his community. The order qualified as ‘commercial capacity’, which simplified the bureaucracy across borders. These large-scale transactions are a source of hope for Yusef, but they’re only possible when substantial donations come in.

In April 2024, Yusef’s project received $48k worth of bitcoin. I ask Yusef whether he is proud or surprised by this achievement, to which he says: “My greatest achievement has been getting people, especially children, the help they need.” More recently, he built almost 100 tents to shelter displaced families.

Although his project consistently ranks amongst the most funded on Geyser, it sometimes struggles to keep up with the relentless needs and expenses Yusef has been trying to meet. For example, not only is food hard to come by but it also comes at a huge price inflation when available. On the week of our call, soon after Yusef raised $48k on Geyser, donations became scarce and he came close to selling his car so he’d have money to help people in desperate need of medical aid. “To help more people, we need the money to access large-scale supplies and rent cars or trucks to transport those goods to displaced communities,” he explains.

Using bitcoin to meet people’s immediate needs, one day at a time

Online, the work is carried out on X, where Fumble helps Yusef spread the word about the project so the trickle of donations doesn’t dry out. “Yusef sends me videos of the work being carried out on the ground, which helps to prove that the project is credible and genuine. The consistency with which he shares those videos helps to demonstrate transparency about his intentions. The challenge is sharing as much information as possible without compromising people’s safety,” Fumble explains.

“You have to be very mindful,” says Fumble. “We want to show as much as possible what’s happening and Yusef’s first-hand content is precious in that regard. The more transparency, the more likely people are to donate. But at the same time, we need to protect innocent civilians in Gaza, many of whom feel quite abandoned by the world.”

Alongside that sentiment, Palestinians stick to the long held mantra “steadfast.” When asked whether he has hopes that life will return to normal, Yusef doesn’t hesitate: “Yes, of course.”

Until then, Fumble thinks about how else he can help civilians in Gaza. On the cards is the possibility of manufacturing and supplying 3D-printed prosthetics for children who’ve lost limbs during this conflict. “When I share these ideas with Yusef, he just says ‘God willing’,” says Fumble, “because he doesn’t take anything for granted; he’s working hard to meet people’s immediate needs. The bitcoin donations have become that lifeline he’s holding on to get people through just one more day.”

Donate to Yusef’s Save Gaza project here. 

This is a guest post by Michele Morucci. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Ever since Donald Trump became more vocal in support of Bitcoin heading into this year’s Presidential campaign, I’ve been sitting with a wide range of emotions and concerns.

Outside of Bitcoin, as a left-leaning voter and vocal critic of Donald Trump, I have deep concerns with such an ego-centric, narcissistic character assuming power in the oval office again, not to mention the damage this could do to issues I deeply care about in the U.S. including a woman’s right to choose, reproductive rights, immigration, global affairs, and beyond.

I came into Bitcoin and began writing, running the Progressive Bitcoiner, and advocating for Bitcoin to those outside of the right leaning/libertarian bubble because I had great concerns about Bitcoin being perceived as “right wing” or politically polarizing. It’s open source code, digital peer-to-peer cash, not belonging to any one ideology or political party. I believe in its importance to radically improve our world, and the lives of millions and billions of people. Already from the left, campaigns like Greenpeace USA, Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto army, and beyond assume Bitcoin to be a haven for criminals and terrorists, climate denying fossil fuel tycoons, and only for the wealthy and wall street. Despite advances in data showing Bitcoin is one of the most, if not the most, sustainable industries on the planet, it’s growing list of human rights use-cases and more, appealing to progressives and the left about Bitcoin (yes Bitcoin specifically, not crypto) continues to be an uphill battle. What should we expect after years of Bitcoin’s loudest voices promoting various right leaning ideologies, encouraging books like the Bitcoin Standard, various right wing lifestyle maximalism tropes including carnivore diets, traditional family values, skepticism of science and climate science, and beyond.

The Trump campaign, and Bitcoiners openly donating to, engaging with, and stanning for Trump makes my job a lot harder. Metaphorically, we went from going fishing (regarding steady bitcoin adoption) to throwing a grenade in the water, without the slightest pause for how this may affect the bigger picture.

The reality is, post 2016 with the election of Donald Trump, and the doubling down of Hillary and the Democratic party calling his supports a “basket of deplorables,” (yes I’m quite critical of the left too!) our political polarization has skyrocketed, leaving most to feel politically homeless (some studies suggesting between 70 million to 100 million Americans).

The left has been corrupted by purity culture. If your view, means to an end, etc. has not been approved by The Left Regime (or you are not well versed on dozens of leftist philosophers and the latest theories), you’re out! Trump and bitcoiners aside, this is also why it’s so hard to get them to engage on bitcoin, because it’s not what their tribe uses, it’s right wing money (according to them).

The right has been overtaken by Trump and a party of valueless debauchery. Conservatives/republicans used to be values driven with actually policy and ideas, which I could agree or disagree with. Now it’s just complete chaos fueled and led by Trump, who has no political philosophy or value system, just ego.

Bitcoin should be a tool to cut through this noise. A tool that any ideology in this case can find useful and valuable. Instead, I’m deeply concerned the narrative may very well latch on to Trump-ism for the next several years, and beyond. Am I ultimately concerned about Bitcoin, its code, usefulness, use-cases, and beyond? Not for this Trump/political reason, no not necessarily (I do have concerns about regulatory capture via ETF’s, mining centralization, lack of privacy and better tools for bitcoin’s peer-to-peer use, etc…but that’s a chat for another time).

I just simply think it’s a bad move for bitcoiners to put all their eggs in the Trump basket, or any political basket for that matter. There’s severe reputational risk, slow down of adoption in the U.S. for those (especially on the left) that will see this as “Trump’s thing” or “right wing” and further this narrative, and the politicians who will respond by doubling down on narratives they continue to try to push against Bitcoin.

For Bitcoin’s social layer, I think it’s in the best interest to continue educating on bitcoin, advocating for grassroots adoption at the individual/community level, holding politicians accountable when they try to overstep (like Elizabeth Warren wanting to institute a backdoor ban on self-custody…no, we’re not going to let that fly, much less how that’s blatantly unconstitutional), and not desperately clinging to politicians’ words on the campaign trail, no matter who they are, that are purely pandering for votes, regardless of what may happen once they are in office (or what they can actually do, versus the legislative and judiciary branches).

As for me, an independent voter, I care deeply about Bitcoin, it’s long-term success, and seeing as many people as possible around the world use and benefit from this revolutionary money and technology. Both for Bitcoin, and for reasons beyond Bitcoin and into my values I stated above, I cannot in good conscience support Donald Trump. You don’t have to vote for Donald Trump to support, learn about or use Bitcoin, or contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Whether you agree or disagree with me, my hope is that among a growing chorus of Trump supporters from the Bitcoin community, those on the outside looking in may see that not all of us are on the same page, and that Bitcoin is for anyone regardless of your political party or who you plan to vote for come November.

This is a guest post by Trey Walsh. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

It feels like this year is going by at the speed of light, doesn’t it? I can hardly believe that it’s already June. Everyone is in vacation mode and ready to relax by the pool and forget the daily grind of work and taking care of a family.

I completely understand the sentiment. Who doesn’t want to stop thinking about wallet-crushing inflation, high interest rates, credit card debt, and the sense that whatever you do you can’t advance in life? It almost feels like this whole system is rigged against you right?

Well, it is, to be honest, but that’s a story for another time. The powers that be who want you fat, happy, and stupid have largely succeeded in that mission. Now that they have succeeded in dumbing down the populace, they literally can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it with impunity.

The thing is their hubris has gotten the best of them. The Federal Reserve and its zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) royally screwed things up to the detriment of the American people and the federal government.

Before the pandemic of 2020, the government had a hard time keeping the inflation rate around its 2 percent benchmark. Certain economic factors such as improved technology, a declining birth rate, baby boomer retirement, and globalization made it where inflation was trending down over time.

The Federal Reserve, in their infinite wisdom and constantly worried about deflation, kept cutting interest rates to spur borrowing and lending in the American economy, which worked for a time until we got to 2008 and the Great Financial Crisis (GFC).

The increased borrowing and lending overheated the housing market and almost took down the global economy, but luckily we had the “mighty” government to step in a fix a problem they helped create. That being said you would think they would have learned their lesson and got their fiscal house in order.

It’s the government, of course not! They did nothing of the sort, what they did do is keep going on their spending binge through the 2020 pandemic. It didn’t matter what political party was in office, the spending kept going up and up.

Did you know that former President Trump added $8.4 trillion to the national debt while he was in office and President Biden is not faring much better with total debt looking to clock in around the $7.9-$8 trillion mark? Needless to say, the government is broke and is living on borrowed time.

Whoever “wins” the election will be the captain of a sinking ship. Medicare and Social Security are broken and completely unaffordable but politicians don’t dare tell the millions of Americans who “paid” into their entire working lives that there is no pot of money set aside for them and that it was just an elaborate tax scheme to fund the government.

You are NOT entitled to receive social security “benefits”, I hope you know that by now. If the government told you f**k you, you ain’t getting Social Security or Medicare, there isn’t a damn thing you could do about it. There are no lawsuits that you could file to compel the government to give you your money back or elect the “right” congressman to fix things. Once the government taxes your paycheck, that money is GONE forever.

You can’t trust the government to keep its end of the bargain or not to debase the currency and destroy your quality of life. With a government like this, why would you trust them with anything? Self-custody of assets is going to determine the winners and losers over the next 5-10 years.

Storm Clouds Gathering

I don’t know about you but I have this unsettling feeling that we are on the precipice of something major. It is going to be a paradigm shift for the whole world. If you look out over the horizon you can see all the pieces falling into place. Just take a look at what is going on:

The United States government is $34 trillion in debt with no end in sight.

Israel/Gaza War

Israel bombing the Iranian military in Syria

BRICS expansion and de-dollarization ongoing

China/Taiwan

Russia/Ukraine War

Global birthrate under replacement levels

All across the globe there is open hostility or simmering tensions about to blow out in the open. I’m not sure if this is how the world felt pre-WW2 but it sure feels like the world is coming apart at the seams. With all this going on, how can you trust the current dollar-based system to protect your hard-earned wealth?

Nothing New Under The Sun

If you have large amounts of dollars in the bank, your wealth is at risk. The banks can confiscate or severely restrict your access to your money, especially during a bank run or some other unforeseen crisis. This is exactly what happened in 2013 during the Eurozone crisis.

During this time Cyprus’ two largest banks were in trouble and need of a bailout from the European Union. The Cypriot government was desperate and the EU knew it, so in classic mob fashion, they insisted on the bank conducting a bail-in using customer funds!!

It doesn’t get any worse than this people. According to a 2018 survey, 55 percent of households who were over the $100k threshold in deposits experienced direct financial loss, and 28 percent experienced a bail-in of deposits.

If you think it can’t happen to you, think again. I bet the Cypriots thought it couldn’t happen to them yet it did. Now is not the time to be complacent and think that everything is fine. If you are a Bitcoiner you understand the world we live in right now.

This is why self-custody of your assets, principally Bitcoin is a must if you want to survive the economic armageddon with your wealth intact.

Self Custody Is The Best Tool For Economic Freedom

Satoshi created Bitcoin and gave us the monetary policy that we need to change the trajectory of humanity from endless fiat wars and a dystopian surveillance state to a bright orange future where human potential can flourish.

In addition to creating a just and fair monetary system, Satoshi gave us the ability to self-custody our wealth without the need for a middleman such as a bank. A simple Bitcoin wallet address and your private key are all you need to secure your wealth from confiscation by a malicious third party. This is truly revolutionary, I mean this is a true 1776 moment in history that was fired back on Jan 3, 2009.

Self-custody gives you the ability to move across borders with your wealth and start over in a new place if push comes to shove. You can’t do that with gold, you can’t do that with silver, you can’t do that with your 401k or the brand new shiny Bitcoin ETFs.

Not your keys, not your coin is the mantra that should be drilled into the head of every single new person coming into Bitcoin. Trusting a custodian to hodl your Bitcoin wealth is just as risky as keeping money in the bank.

There is so much educational material and Bitcoiners willing to help people new to Bitcoin that quite frankly it is unacceptable to have anyone holding any amount of Bitcoin on an exchange. If a majority of Bitcoin holders are keeping their coins on an exchange or purchasing a Bitcoin ETF instead of the real deal, what are we even doing here? It’s self-custody or bust. This is the mission at hand. Are you ready anon? 

This is a guest post by Robert Hall. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.