Scandal whistleblower Edward Snowden was interviewed at the Consensus 2022 conference in Texas. He shared his thoughts on bitcoin, Zcach, Monero and the future of the entire cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin is not for investment
According to Snowden, bitcoin’s biggest drawback is its public nature and the fact that it is not private. Therefore, “bitcoin is for use, not investment.”
Here the activist refers to a Bitcoin white paper in which Satoshi Nakamoto calls BTC a peer-to-peer monetary system.
“Bitcoin does not function as electronic money because it lacks complete anonymity.”
Snowden added that he himself has great respect for cryptocurrencies and considers BTC a brilliant invention. He hopes that despite the lack of privacy, bitcoin will last for centuries.
Working on Zcasch
Snowden then touched on two other cryptocurrencies, Zcasch and Monero. He admitted that he was involved in the process of creating Zcasch under the pseudonym John Dobbertin. And that Zcasch’s anonymity technology “made a huge impression on him.”
The ex-agent expressed his opinion about cryptocurrencies in general:
“I think cryptocurrencies are closer to real money than fiat. People usually don’t understand the difference, but money is a thing that has value. Cryptocurrencies have value, they can be exchanged, and they are independent of any authority.”
That said, Snowden fears the “financialization” of the crypto industry. In his opinion, it distracts people from the most important aspect of cryptocurrencies – technology. The journalist advised crypto-projects to focus less on making money.