Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency who leaked highly classified intelligence in 2013, believes China’s cryptocurrency ban has strengthened Bitcoin.
“This is the first time in a while I’ve felt like buying BItcoin. That drop was too much panic and too little reason,” Snowden tweeted back in March 2020. Yesterday, he quoted that tweet and said “[Bitcoin] is up ~10 since, despite a coordinated global campaign by governments to undermine public understanding of—and support for—cryptocurrency.”
“China even banned it, but it just made Bitcoin stronger,” Snowden added.
Sometimes I think back to this and wonder how many people bought #Bitcoin then.
It's up ~10x since, despite a coordinated global campaign by governments to undermine public understanding of—and support for—cryptocurrency.
This is not the first time Snowden has opined about Bitcoin. Earlier this year, the infamous whistleblower lamented the cryptocurrency’s perceived lack of privacy.
Snowden and Bitcoin
During this year’s Ethereal Summit powered by Decrypt, Snowden said Bitcoin needed to become “private by design” to counter efforts against “privacy coins” like Monero.
“Bitcoin is really failing comprehensively on the privacy angle. Now in 2021, everybody knows there’s a problem when we talk about digital surveillance,” Snowden told fierce digital privacy advocate Marta Belcher.
Speaking at Decrypt's Ethereal Summit, infamous whistleblower Edward Snowden argued that Bitcoin must be made "private by design" in order to counter efforts to crack down on so-called "privacy coins" such as Monero.
"Bitcoin is really failing comprehensively on the privacy angle," Snowden said, adding, "Now in 2021, everybody knows there's a problem when we talk about digital surveillance."
Snowden, a former contractor for the US National Security Agency who leaked highly classified intelligen...
The solution—according to Snowden—is for Bitcoin to re-pivot to privacy, but he isn’t necessarily optimistic. “It’s really frustrating for a lot of people in this space that the core development team for Bitcoin has been prioritized—because the longer they wait, the more obstacles are going to be put in place to prevent that,” he added.
Since then, China’s ban has crept back into the public eye on several occasions. In May, the National Interest Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association, and the Payment and Clearing Association of China collectively reiterated their support for the government’s position.
“Recently, cryptocurrency prices have skyrocketed and plummeted, and speculative trading of cryptocurrency has rebounded, seriously infringing on the safety of people’s property and disrupting the normal economic and financial order,” they said.
China’s crackdown on Bitcoin mining has sent the hash rate plummeting and has further served to highlight the detrimental environmental aspects of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. But the consequences have not been adequately addressed, according to a senior British academic.
Pete Howson, a senior lecturer in international development at Northumbria University in the UK, told Decrypt that China has unleashed a “global arms race in Bitcoin mining equipment” which is having devastating ef...
Last month, the government published a notice detailing further details behind their position against cryptocurrencies.
“Recently, virtual currency trading hype activities have risen, disrupting economic and financial order, breeding illegal and criminal activities such as gambling, illegal fundraising, fraud, pyramid schemes, and money laundering,” the government said.
Crypto exchange Bullish has submitted paperwork for an initial public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a report from the Financial Times, citing sources familiar.
The move marks its second bid to go public, following an initial attempt in a $9 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Far Peak, in July 2021.
Those prospects went dim by late 2022, with aspirations later called off due to prevailing “time constraints and market conditions.”
These T...
About three in five Fortune 500 companies are working on blockchain initiatives, Coinbase found in its State of Crypto second quarter report based on questions posed to executives from these firms.
Roughly half the participants said that their companies had increased spending on blockchain while one in five said it was a key part of their firms' strategies, although many also expressed concerns about regulation.
"So, the future of money is here and it has only just begun," the report said. "But...
American Bitcoin, a bitcoin mining firm backed by Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, has amassed 215 Bitcoin since its debut in April, according to a recent disclosure from the company to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In a filing dated June 6, the digital asset mining firm disclosed it had 215 Bitcoin in its reserves as of May 31.
The tokens are worth $23.7 million based on current prices. Bitcoin was recently trading at $110,300, according to the same data provider, CoinGecko’s data sho...
