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 YouTube channel ZCash Media, 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.
One of these people went by the pseudonym John Dobbertin. At the 6:35 minute mark of the video, he speaks up to reveal his identity:
Edward Snowden announces his involvement in the ZCash project and his interest in it:
“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 charged with espionage by the United States and now lives in Russia.
It makes sense, therefore, for him to show interest in anonymous cryptocurrencies like ZCash. He also made it clear that he was not paid for his participation in the project.
According to him, Bitcoin (BTC) has one major drawback to being called a free currency, namely the fact that the transaction ledger is so transparent unlike ZCash.
But this does not prevent him from appreciating Bitcoin, he had for example declared in December 2020 that the dollar had lost 99% of its value against BTC.
Despite this, anonymous cryptocurrencies could see their use become more marginalized due to the criticism they face. Under regulatory pressure, they could be removed from centralised platforms, as was the case for Monero (XMR) on the UK version of Kraken last November.
