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The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner is a Bitcoin advocate.<\/p>\n
Venezuela opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado <\/strong>was awarded<\/a> the Nobel Peace Prize last week for keeping “the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n Machado told Human Rights Foundation<\/strong> Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein<\/strong> in a Bitcoin Magazine interview<\/a> last year that she believed Bitcoin should be part of Venezuela\u2019s national reserves. These remarks came as she said the leading digital asset had been a \u201clifeline\u201d for many Venezuelans amid hyperinflation.<\/p>\n Don’t Miss:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSome Venezuelans found a lifeline in Bitcoin during hyperinflation, using it to protect their wealth and finance their escape,” she said. “Bitcoin bypasses government-imposed exchange rates and thus helps many of our people. It has evolved from a humanitarian tool to a vital means of resistance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Blockchain data company Chainalysis<\/strong> ranked<\/a> Venezuela 18th in the world for cryptocurrency adoption this year.<\/p>\n Machado, the daughter of steel magnate Henrique Machado Zuloaga<\/strong>, has a degree in industrial engineering and a master\u2019s degree in finance. But she entered politics in 2002 with the founding of the nonprofit S\u00famate<\/strong>, a self-described vote-monitoring group.<\/p>\n At S\u00famate, she led<\/a> a signature-collection drive for a 2004 recall referendum against then-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez<\/strong>, due to dissatisfaction with his rule. The referendum, however, failed and Machado and other members of S\u00famate were charged<\/a> with treason and conspiracy.<\/p>\n Trending: <\/strong>If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it<\/strong><\/a>?<\/strong><\/p>\n Machado still managed to get elected to the National Assembly in 2010, receiving more votes than any other lawmaker. In the National Assembly, where she served until 2014, she famously had a heated exchange<\/a> with Chavez, slamming his expropriation of private properties as \u201cstealing.\u201d<\/p>\n Machado\u2019s opposition to Venezuela\u2019s ruling socialist party continued into President Nicolas Maduro<\/strong>\u2018s 12-year administration, as she has supported protests and other initiatives against the government.<\/p>\n Machado tried to run for the presidency in 2012 but lost the Democratic Unity Roundtable party\u2019s primaries. She returned with another presidential bid in 2023. This time, she won the primaries, but was barred<\/a> from continuing by Venezuela\u2019s Supreme Justice Tribunal, which is widely alleged to be controlled by the ruling party.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Machado, however, did not back down in her effort to upend Maduro\u2019s government. She united the notoriously divided opposition behind a representative from another party, Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez<\/strong>, and rallied citizens to band against rigging at the 2024 polls. It is this effort that the Norwegian Nobel Committee said earned her the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n See Also: Missed Nvidia and Tesla? RAD Intel Could Be the Next AI Powerhouse \u2014 Invest Now at Just $0.81 a Share<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cShe is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,\u201d the committee said.<\/p>\n Gonz\u00e1lez overwhelmingly defeated Maduro at the ballot, according to opposition data corroborated<\/a> by independent observers. However, Maduro has rejected the data and clung to power.<\/p>\n Fearing arrest and torture, Gonz\u00e1lez fled<\/a> to Spain, while Machado has gone into hiding in Venezuela.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a movement, the achievement of a whole society,\u201d Machado said on a recorded call shared<\/a> by the Norwegian Nobel Committee after being informed of her award. \u201cI am just one person. I certainly do not deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n Read Next: Backed by $300M+ in Assets and Microsoft’s Climate Fund, Farmland LP Opens Vital Farmland III to Accredited Investors<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Image: Shutterstock<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This article Meet Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, The Bitcoin Advocate Who Just Won The Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> originally appeared on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n