Whistleblower Edward Snowden, known for releasing classified National Security Agency (NSA) information in 2013, has revealed his involvement in the initial launch of the anonymous cryptocurrency ZCash (ZEC).
Edward Snowden played a key role in the launch of ZCash
In a video posted on the ZCash Media YouTube channel, Edward Snowden reveals his involvement in the initial launch of ZCash.
The video tells the story of how the blockchain startup came about through an event called the “ceremony. During this event, which took place in October 2016, 6 people combined part of their private key before destroying it, so that the security of the network could not be compromised.
Of these people, one of them answered to the pseudonym John Dobbertin. From 6 minutes 35 on the video, he speaks to reveal his identity:
Edward Snowden announces his involvement and interest in the ZCash project:
“My name is Edward Snowden. I participated in the original Zcash ceremony under the pseudonym John Dobbertin. […] I saw that a number of trusted academic cryptographers were working on it and I thought it was a very interesting project.”
A special affinity with cryptocurrencies
In 2013, after revealing to the general public the surveillance programs of intelligence agencies such as the NSA, FBI, and other government administrations, Edward Snowden was accused of espionage by the United States and now lives in Russia.
So it makes sense for him to show interest in anonymous cryptocurrencies like ZCash. In fact, he made it clear that he was not paid for his participation in the project.
According to him, Bitcoin (BTC) has a major drawback to be called a free currency, namely the fact that the record of transactions is also transparent unlike ZCash.
But this does not prevent him from appreciating Bitcoin, he had for example stated in December 2020 that the dollar had lost 99% of its value against BTC.
Despite this, anonymous cryptocurrencies could see their use marginalized a little more, due to the criticism they face. Under regulatory pressure, they could be removed from centralized platforms, as was the case for Monero (XMR) on the British version of Kraken last November.
