“We are contorting ourselves to fit through the keyhole of tyranny.” Edward Snowden’s words rang out in the packed halls of Bitcoin Amsterdam’s Genesis Stage, underscoring the impact of government surveillance, devaluation of fiat currencies, and In a world plagued by restrictive policies, the importance of this remarkable cryptocurrency is growing day by day.
The famous whistleblower’s speech summarized recurring themes during the conference in Amsterdam, illuminating the role of decentralized protocols like Bitcoin and Nostr in giving individuals some degree of control over their wealth and privacy.
Cointelegraph spoke with prominent Bitcoin developers, investors, builders and supporters attending the two-day conference in picturesque Westerpark. At a time when the ongoing crypto bear market is testing the wider industry, the event successfully attracted thousands of event attendees looking for the latest news and insights from the BTC industry.
While these prominent figures emphasized Bitcoin’s value proposition as a store of value against the declining purchasing power of fiat currencies, Snowden criticized the continued focus on Bitcoin’s value rather than its importance as a decentralized tool:
“We are all part of a bigger game, and Bitcoin is one of the most powerful levers of it. The systems we are influencing and the systems we are influencing — payments and finance — will shape what the world will look like in the future.”
Snowden’s speech drew arguably the largest audience of the conference as he revisited the role Bitcoin played in his own journey against the hegemony of the U.S. government and its wanton surveillance of citizens.
In 2013, Snowden used Bitcoin to pay for servers hosting classified information that was sent to journalists exposing NSA overreach. As Snowden laid out, Bitcoin’s growing prominence has led to growing opposition from governments, lawmakers, and traditional financial institutions.
“We don’t want to focus on ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and things like that, we need to focus on fundamentals.”
Snowden added that the potential impact of Bitcoin ETFs on the value of cryptocurrencies represents “a subordination, a conquest, a taming process” that is being played out by the institutions that regulate the traditional financial sector.
Snowden also shared his view that Bitcoin has “privacy issues” and highlighted the emergence of obfuscation tools such as Mixing coins Just as important as mixers, but equally indicative of the pressures decentralized protocols are under.
“Secret operations are not freedom. The necessity of mixing coins, etc. – that’s because you are not free. Proof of funds is proof of lack of freedom.”
Snowden said society needs to stop asking for permission and continue to innovate and create decentralized tools that ignore existing powers, citing the SEC’s 2023 actions against the broader cryptocurrency space as a prime example. . Currently existing controls:
“Everyone is watching prices and paying attention to the headlines involving the SEC. Gary Gensler is not the father of Bitcoin. I really don’t care what he thinks, and I don’t think you should care either.”
The whistleblower also paid tribute to the creation of Nostr, which he said was very powerful in conceptualizing the integration of free speech and free trade. Nostr’s creators later revealed the origins of the platform at a conference that also attracted a large audience.
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