Introducing Iran Unchained V2
What is Iran Unchained
Iran Unchained’s mission is to overthrow the Islamic Republic and establish a secular government aligned with “Woman, Life, Freedom” by empowering the Iranian community and supporting the well-being of Iranian citizens. By using a crypto-first approach, we bypass the challenges of banking over-compliance that have hindered past efforts to provide financial support to Iran.
At Iran Unchained, our mission includes fundraising in a manner that fully complies with OFAC sanctions policies. As a US-Based NGO (Wyoming UNA) utilizing a DAO and an onchain donation platform, we combine the benefits of traditional NGOs with Web3. This approach ensures that every given donation remains both transparent and secure. For a deeper dive into how Iran Unchained and its DAO is structured, we invite you to explore our Operations Overview.
With the Iran Unchained DAO, donors can allocate funds to specific grant areas directly to their wallets. Anyone can submit a grant proposal through IranUnchained.com (now https://v2.iranunchained.com/).
We are the Diaspora
The Iran Unchained Team consists of 15 members of the diaspora longing for a homeland free from the Islamic Republic’s cruelties. Until that day comes, we are leveraging our collective expertise across law, operations, DeFi and TradFi to provide onchain aid to individuals and humanitarian organizations legally and securely. Our team has extensively studied the intricacies of current OFAC guidelines to ensure long-term support for the Iranian people.
2023 in Review
Since Iran Unchained’s founding in January 2023, we’ve proudly distributed $100,000+ in grant funding to Iranians to support a range of needs, from basics such as food and ensuring internet access, to broadcasting important information about the revolution in Iran. Directly-funded initiatives include:
- Internet Freedom for Iran (Internet4I): Distributed hundreds of secure VPN connections and other mediums for secure communication, protecting Iranians from censorship and surveillance. [X]
- Humanitarian Aid: A grant for the distribution of food, clothing, medical essentials and other basic necessities for Iranians. [X]
- Zan Zendegi Azadi Newspaper: Translates to “Women, Life, Freedom” Newspaper, publishes verified real-time news in Iran; its team is fully anonymous as they are based in Iran and face execution risks for their work. [X]
- Censorship Circumventing VPNs: Purchased cutting-edge resilient VPNs for distribution to activist groups who need uninterrupted internet uptime, especially during protests. [X]
- Backing Iranian NFT artists: Even though art is exempt from sanctions, many NFT Marketplaces have unfortunately banned Iranian artists due to over-compliance. To support these incredible artists, Iran Unchained has purchased 69 NFTs. [X]
- ETH conferences scholarships for Iranians: The goal is to expose Iranian developers to the Ethereum community. [X]
Operationally, we celebrated a series of accomplishments:
- Launched the Iran Unchained forum [X]
- Iran Unchained DAO members ratified [X] the NGO charter [X]
- Published research on how to provide humanitarian aid to Iranians in a compliant manner [X]
- Presented Iran Unchained at ETH Denver—Ameen Soleimani [X]
- Discussed IRL Web3 and Sanctions in Denver—Shayan Eskandari [X]
- Presented on DAO/NGO at ETH Prague—Shayan Eskandari [X]
V2
Iran Unchained plans to distribute another $50,000+ in grants to V2 projects through DAO voting in compliance with US sanctions exemptions. Additionally, through the Iran Unchained V2 platform, public grant profiles are featured on our website (https://v2.iranunchained.com/), benefitting both potential donors and grant recipients. The V2 platform is a fork of the Gitcoin grants stack, but it uses the same contracts with a custom Iran Unchained UI.
How V2 Benefits Donors
- Simplified Donations for Non-Americans: V2 is designed so that donors outside the US can contribute directly to the project wallets without needing to first donate to the US-based Iran Unchained NGO.
- Choice-Based Donations: Donors have the flexibility to select and contribute to projects or causes they resonate with.
- Vetted Recipients: V2 rigorously vets all recipients showcased on the platform to ensure proper fund utilization.
How V2 Benefits Grant Recipients
- Promote your own initiative: Recipients can showcase their unique projects on the V2 platform, and promote them separately to attract donations that go directly to their wallets.
- Exposure to New Donors: Grant recipients can attract new donors interested in their cause through the V2 platform.
- Privacy and Anonymity: We understand the risks that come with associating with US-based organizations. Projects may be anonymous to protect their safety.
How to Create a Public Profile
Potential grant recipients can create profiles by following the steps outlined in our IranUnchained V2 User Guide or by contacting iranunchained@proton.me. Please see our crypto-opsec guide too (English, Farsi)!
Please share with your friends working on Iranian freedom and encourage them to apply!
The Future of Iran Unchained
While we are fully focused on onboarding grant recipient profiles and securing essential funds for them, we’re also considering the long-term goals of Iran Unchained and how Web3 can play a key role in Iran’s liberation from the Islamic Republic. Our future plans include building tools for wallet social recovery, ZK voting systems for anonymity protection, and delegated democracy.
