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The American whistleblower has expressed his concerns about the financialization of the crypto space, but stressed that he sees huge promise in the technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Edward Snowden says he believes in the crypto movement, but he thinks there are some major hurdles to address over the coming years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking in a virtual interview at Consensus 2022 in Austin today, the American whistleblower and President of the Freedom of the Press Foundation shared his thoughts on the promise of the emerging technology and issued a clear warning about the dangers of a world devoid of financial privacy with respect to crypto.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Snowden, who made international headlines when he leaked classified National Security Agency documents detailing surveillance practices of U.S. citizens in 2013, described Bitcoin\u2019s public nature as a \u201ccore flaw\u201d and said that the biggest reason for why it could fail is because it is not private. \u201cIt is failing as an electronic cash system because cash is largely intended to be anonymous,\u201d he said, referencing the Bitcoin whitepaper (Satoshi Nakamoto famously touted Bitcoin as \u201ca peer-to-peer electronic cash system.)<\/span><\/p>\n Though he said he saw issued with Bitcoin\u2019s public ledger, Snowden clarified that he was \u201cvery much a fan\u201d of the technology and made a comparison between gold and cryptocurrencies, noting that the borderless nature of Bitcoin and crypto more broadly is \u201can astonishing thing.\u201d Shortly after the discussion, Snowden posted a tweet<\/a> describing gold as \u201cBitcoin that can\u2019t be sent over the Internet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Gold is just bitcoin that can’t be sent over the internet.<\/p>\n \u2014 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) June 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nEdward Snowden Talks Bitcoin<\/b><\/h2>\n
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