- Edward Snowden gave a speech at the Bitcoin 2024 conference
- He shared his concerns about Bitcoin’s political independence
- He also expressed doubts about Bitcoin’s technical confidentiality
Edward Snowden was a prominent guest at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, one of the few who expressed concerns instead of optimism.
Another such guest was Jimmy Song, a famous Bitcoin developer, who criticized the conference, its participants, and topics for discussion, which you can read about in our other article.Â
What Are Edward Snowden’s Concerns About Bitcoin?
Recall that Edward Snowden is a former CIA and NSA contractor who committed a crime but made public the fact of global surveillance by the CIA and became one of the key activists for the right to privacy and freedom in the digital space.
From his perspective, he made several key points that deserve close attention.
Snowden outlined issues about the general enthusiasm for the large amount of political attention surrounding Bitcoin. In his view, this interest could allow government agencies to appropriate Bitcoin and leave people even more dependent on it than on the dollar.
Snowden also outlined his issues about the technical side of anonymous and private Bitcoin. He insists that Bitcoin transactions are not entirely anonymous and could be traced back to individuals through various on and off-ramps, such as regulated exchanges. He cautioned that governments and corporations could exploit this data using artificial intelligence to create detailed profiles of individuals without their consent.
What Initiatives Does Snowden Propose?
He believes Bitcoin must maintain independence from political ideologies and not blindly follow political figures or parties.
He also insists that the inherent security of blockchain technology should not be overestimated and that we need to develop additional solutions to secure Bitcoin transactions and protect users’ privacy in an increasingly digital and surveilled world.
Conclusions
Overall, Edward Snowden expresses a clear and consistent position that fundamental rights and freedoms must be respected regardless of the development of technology, and the need for a standardized industry to eliminate cybercrime should not be an excuse.
He sees cryptocurrencies and the crypto industry as one of the few remaining rapidly diminishing opportunities to ensure fundamental rights and freedoms, so he insists on timely attention and the proper steps that can be made only in the early stage of technology adaptation.
