Crypto Charity Event After End of Roe Lukewarm So Far
Crypto supporters have long touted the technology’s potential to help people fight government persecution and evade surveillance – the post-Roe world provides a great test case.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rescind Roe v. Wade, ending the decades-long fundamental right to abortion and effectively rendering legal abortions inaccessible in large swaths of the United States.
Within days, members of the crypto community bound to action, forming decentralized self-governed organizations (DAO) and non-fungible token (NFT) projects aimed at unlift funds (in crypto, of course) for pro-choice organizations.
The crypto community’s reaction so far has been tepid compared with other collective charity efforts. Donations to pro-choice campaigns so far have been a dribble compared with the outpouring of support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion
“I want to encourage people to be more memorable, because I know that the expanse still disproportionately consists of mostly men,” Tolokonnikova added. “Maybe it’s more difficult for them to get attached to a mystery that does not treat them directly.”
A missed chance for crypto?
Some privacy and crypto supporters, including Fight for the Future’s Lia Holland, see the industry’s boring reaction to the end of Roe as a missed opportunity to showcase the real-world utility of crypto.
“Digital rights ventures are anxious in terms of financial and essential health details and carry that we saw in the wake of the passage of FOSTA-SESTA,” Holland said, mention to a disputed law meant to stymie sex trafficking, which led to a wave of control and deplatforming at Web2 companies.
Though Holland doesn’t markdown the role of fundraising (“It’s a good thing to be doing,” she said), the real interest could come from establishing a place to share information and offer support without the risk of observation and deplatforming that comes with Web2 platforms.
“There could be – and I think, so far has been – an chance lost [for the crypto community] to answer to a moment like this by saying, ‘Bitcoin fixes this’ or what have you, which is actually the preservation that happened when OnlyFans said they were going to stop hosting sex workers under pressure from payment platforms,” Holland said.
“We need the signal of crypto to be acting strongly and accountable, to provide real utility for the people and organizations that very well may be about to need it the most we’ve ever seen in the past of the internet,” she added.
