Privacy & control

Deposits are permissioned

❓ Why do freezes prove the ledger-controller thesis?

If your balance is a bank liability, a legal order to the bank can freeze it without seizing metal from your hands. Canada’s February 2022 Emergencies Act measures required financial institutions to cease services to designated convoy-related parties. Nigerian activists described account freezes during protests and turning to bitcoin donations. Navalny’s network used bitcoin under Russian banking pressure. Lebanon showed slow-motion confiscation via withdrawal limits. These differ in law and justice claims; they share the deposit control surface.

Privacy degradation

❓ How does digital payment progress reduce default privacy?

Cash is bearer and locally private by default. Card and app rails produce durable third-party records. CBDCs and fully digital cashless pushes can eliminate the cash exit. Chapter 28 treats this as civil-liberty infrastructure, not only UX.

Asymmetric defense

❓ What can open cryptography change against state capacity?

It raises the cost of remote seizure and cross-border value move for dissidents and the underbanked—asymmetric defense (Chapter 29). It does not abolish law enforcement or make crime good. HRF’s Oslo engagement (Chapter 30 opening) frames bitcoin mining and open money as tools tied to UN civil-political rights lists, not as investment tips.

Openness vs control fork

❓ Is dual equilibrium stable?

Possibly for a long time: core jurisdictions run surveilled claim money; some users and some jurisdictions keep open rails. Unstable if major powers coordinate to criminalize self-custody effectively and populations comply. Technology offers optionality; politics decides uptake.

Inclusion claims

❓ Does crypto actually help the unbanked?

Sometimes: phones + stables/BTC can beat broken local banks. Hype overstates seamless inclusion; on-ramps, scams, and volatility remain. Book’s comparative claim is order-of-magnitude adoption vs eNaira in Nigeria—directionally about revealed preference under stress.