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Should you need to flee the country, you'll need access to money. You could deposit money into cryptocurrency 'stable coins', which are generally backed 1:1 by other currencies. The stablecoin called USDC would work for this purpose: backed 1:1 by the US Dollar. That way you will have access to money from any country.

Berkeley has a report "An Evaluation of Online Security Guides for Journalists" which may prove helpful here: https://cltc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Online_... .

I also remember University of Toronto had software tools to help journalists and political dissidents communicate securely online, however I don't have links at the moment.

You probably want to purchase multiple VPN services, from smaller providers, as the bigger ones will likely be blocked entirely. You also want to limit ad tracking as much as possible.

Your phone will likely leak your location and provide excellent means for tracking you. I am not an expert on this subject. Use an iphone, update to the latest ios, limit ad tracking in the settings, and disable background app communication (cut off internet access for most apps entirely). Use a VPN on your phone. See this article for an idea of how pervasive the tracking might be: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/19/opinion/locat...



How does converting a stablecoin to cash work when you are in an unfamiliar country and don't have a local bank account?

I assume cryptocurrency exchanges won't mail you a wad of cash. Maybe they'd mail you a check, though, that you could cash at a local bank? Though many banks will not take checks unless you have an account with them. And the local check-cashing places will take a cut of the proceeds (though that might be acceptable given the situation). Even if that does work, you might be stuck without money for days or more while the check gets to you. Hopefully whatever you managed to bring with you will hold you for that long.


Let's say you're fleeing Tunisia with a liquid net worth of over $10k.

You want some money in cash, certainly. But crossing borders with over $10k is a legal problem. You're also liable to be robbed. It would make sense to convert most of your money to USDC.

If you end up anywhere in Europe, and probably many places in the world, you can find cryptocurrency ATM machines where you can withdraw your crypto without identification for nominal fees. As others have pointed out, there are cryptocurrency debit/atm cards via services that require formal registration (ie, they obey KYC laws). There are services you can transfer crypto to through circuitous routes that will dump currency in a bank account you specify -- you'd have to dig to figure that path out as it is not quite legal. And you can always barter with humans directly -- which shouldn't be too difficult. You'll have to do some creative thinking...

Stablecoins are ideal for this situation. How else would you move $50k when you're illegally ("undocumented") crossing borders, your government is corrupt, and your banks have shut down?


Well, depending on just exactly where you are, if you have access to any way of using credit card to pay for what you need, or a way to turn a credit card balance into cash, you should be fine with one of several card style options from Binance or Crypto.com (is swipe SXP(?) one?) and USDC (the singular most unbreakable 1:1 physically backed USD equivalent in crypto) in your balance.

However in do keep in mind, especially when running from bad things (like a dictatorship) - absolutely nothing some cold hard money on hand for fares/bribes of whatever kind.

That said, if you were going to go with a exchanges physical card option, you would want to order that... like, now.

Also, if you are a singular person without a family... I would be looking to get on a smuggler/refugee boat towards Italy or something. If you're stuck in the country for family or whatever other reasons, I wish you the best, try to have some supplies in backpacks to run into the jungles/slums if shit starts to hit the fan.


Hold stablecoins if you don't want the volatility, but when you want to sell some, turn them to BTC and to sell on localbitcoins.


Localbitcoins does not let you arrange f2f or online meetings anymore without KYC. You have to pass KYC/AML to sign up.


Really?! Last time I used it was 2015. What about the Mycelium Wallet?


Non-VOIP non-prepaid phone required, and ID is optional but required for ... well, really, anything more than a single small amount trade. You can't get contact info or contact an advertisement otherwise.

I also get "Unfortunately we are not serving customers located in your current location." from a California IP so it's really funny considering it's supposed to be nothing more than a craigslist for BTC ads.


How to stay anonymous online is an interesting problem.

Guides may recommend privacy plugins for chrome: uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, PixelBlock, etc... However, these plugins may also make your browser easier to fingerprint.

Technology for browser fingerprinting and linking your identity across devices is probably quite sophisticated. Perversely, there's a guy ordering lunch right now, in San Francisco or New York City, who wrote the code to track you. The bill for the meal over Uber Eats tallied to $45, delivered to his multi million dollar condo. He read your headline and decided to stay silent. Good luck!


I would set up vpn service on a datacenter provider like aws or digital ocean. That way blocking you means blocking the internet effectively. If they block one protocol you can also switch it up more quickly. Your threat model is tunsia, not the us govt or anti piracy detection, which is where datacenter vpn falls short.


UT's group is Citizenlab, https://citizenlab.ca/




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