Emerging technologies can benefit humanity depending on who holds the power lever and how we decentralize them.

Speech: Edward Snowden

Compiled by: Shanoa, Golden Finance

On September 18, 2024, Edward Snowden, who exposed the "Prism Gate" incident, delivered a speech titled "The Next Threat to Speech" at the Token2049 conference. He pointed out that despite the earth-shaking changes that have occurred in the world, intelligence agencies' infringement on citizens' privacy has not decreased, but has become more concealed and widespread with the development of technology. Mass surveillance has become a reality. However, this is also the unique aspect and power of encryption technology, especially Bitcoin. It is a system designed from the worst possible scenario to avoid inevitable results. Golden Finance has compiled the content of Snowden's speech for readers to enjoy.

The following is the full text of Snowden's speech (subheadings added by the editor):

First of all, I would like to pay tribute to all my friends at Token 2049 in Singapore. It's been a long time since I last came to Singapore, probably in 2009. At that time, I was working for the CIA at an embassy not far from here.

Surveillance by intelligence agencies is everywhere

I want to start with the fact that in the past 15 years, the world has undergone many changes, but the practices of intelligence agencies have not changed much. I want to start from this point because although the behavior of intelligence agencies has not changed, its scale has expanded enormously. This is the reason that drove me to stand here.

The problem is not whether the government is monitoring certain people; in fact, they have always been doing so. The difference in the past was that they did not have the ability to monitor everyone. But now, they not only have this ability, but also put it into practice. In the past, this was just an unattainable fantasy. Today, we see that this surveillance is everywhere.

Durov, Telegram, and encryption technology

Telegram founder Pavel Durov is someone I mentioned on Twitter a few weeks ago. I originally wanted to discuss him here because his experience symbolizes the profound changes happening in the world today. Just a few weeks ago, we witnessed a coordinated action by old powers trying to control Telegram by detaining Durov in France.

For years, these powers have openly complained about Telegram, even though Telegram is not actually a truly secure communication tool. By the way, please do not recommend it as a secure communication tool to your friends. It is more like a regular chat room with a private messaging feature. Telegram does have an encryption messaging feature called "Secret Chat," but hardly anyone uses it. Anyway, the national machinery in the United States and Europe has been complaining that Telegram does not give them enough control, unlike platforms like Facebook, where they can easily shut down channels or disclose user information.

Due to some design flaws in Telegram, it does have the ability to exercise this control. Therefore, the government knows that if Telegram is willing, they can do these things. Telegram has apparently made some efforts to resist, but this is not enough to change the situation. So what happened next? Durov was lured to France and imprisoned on some fabricated pretext. A few days later, Telegram changed its terms of service. This is the harsh reality when you do not design a service at the protocol level to resist state intervention. This is also the unique aspect and power of encryption technology, especially Bitcoin. It is a system designed from the worst possible scenario to avoid inevitable results.

After Durov was released, as soon as he arrived in a free place, he began to fix the design problem that initially got him into trouble. He created a service that does not place too much power and data in the hands of people vulnerable to state intervention. You must design your system so that it never has a "contact point" that can be manipulated, otherwise they will find a way to manipulate it.

Countries that once embraced classical liberalism are now working hardest to overthrow it

However, the real important lesson is not just about Durov or Telegram, but about all of us. We are entering a new stage in history. The group of countries that were once considered more enlightened once embraced the ideas of classical liberalism. I want to clarify that when I say liberalism, I mean the supreme right of individuals to self-determination and self-guidance in their lives, not the liberalism touted by political parties today. The countries that once advocated this idea are now working hardest to overthrow it. They shape and ultimately control everyone's lives within their territory and even beyond through bureaucratic means, policy interventions, and guidance. Technological progress has made all this almost possible. These issues have not fundamentally changed compared to 2015.

If one were to defend these countries, it could be said that they truly believe that this path leads to utopia and that they know better than you what is best for you. They are the "experts." Everyone is told how to live, such as whether to eat insects, and so on. But it should be remembered that this story has been played out countless times in history. Experts once told you to kill sparrows in the fields, and now we are at a moment waiting for the next development.

The struggle over Telegram, especially the recent proposal by the European Union for new chat controls, if you haven't heard about it, you really should look into it. Because the EU will push for the adoption of these proposals again in the coming weeks. In my view, these proposals are not so much about surveillance as they are about control. They are laying the procedural framework for controlling every voice globally. This is the real purpose.

Governments are not concerned about certain secret conversations or trying to obtain keys to certain conversations. They just see people communicating in ways they do not like and think that these communications may be false information, fabricated information, or social content they consider harmful, and therefore want to censor it. This is very dangerous, and once control is lost, it will be irreparable.

Lebanon BP Machine Explosion Case

This reminds me of the changes in modernity. This is not the conversation I expected to have when I woke up yesterday. I spent most of yesterday reading reports about the Israeli president, and according to all reports, certain actions seem to resemble those of terrorists: consumer electronic devices (editor's note: BP machines) exploding in multiple countries simultaneously, pockets, hands, faces, and even cars losing control.

Although this is not the first time we have seen such phenomena, this is the first time we have seen such a "broadcast" bomb attack on such a scale. A message sent through the public communication system can trigger electronic devices in a standby state. The devices do not know who the owner is, where they are, or whether an adult or a child is using them. Obviously, the perpetrators of the bombings do not care about these issues.

Even without explosives, the batteries of mobile phones, laptops, or electric cars contain a large amount of energy. These devices may not explode in the same way, but they can certainly catch fire. In the future, your device may cause a fire while you sleep due to a charging malfunction, with just the press of a button. But who should we blame?

We must discuss the core rules and values of cryptocurrency

Recently, I saw someone suggest that there is no need to discuss the anarchist roots of Bitcoin, nor the privacy, interception-proof design, or the fact that it cannot be censored or stopped, because it makes billionaires uncomfortable. They want to invest in something that can be regulated, controlled, and serve them.

I think this is completely wrong. We must discuss the core rules and values of cryptocurrency—this is what makes it special. I don't care if this makes billionaires uncomfortable, or if it slows down the allocation of funds by JPMorgan. They have no voting rights. Frankly, whether they like it or not, they are already on this train. The era of the dollar has ended. As Alton said, currency devaluation is already built into our economic model. We can see changes in the money supply and deficit spending. This may not happen this year, it may not happen next year, or even in the next five years.

But from the historical development, the result is already very clear. We are at the end of the era of paper money, and it is declining and heading towards its end. This has nothing to do with the flag of any country; the key is how the system operates, without a solid foundation and strong roots.

The crypto community must control gambling or scams

Therefore, as a community, we need to focus on maintaining the factors that make the currency thrive, rather than those that lead to the failure of other currencies. I think this also means that we need to recognize that many other crypto projects actually don't make much sense, except to dilute the currency base, although not all projects are like that. Of course, there are still some good projects.

But everyone here can think of some examples that, even if we package them well, are nothing more than scams. These phenomena happen over and over again.

People see it as gambling, or like buying a lottery ticket.

But think about the impact on the system. If we don't control it, it will become toxic waste. Everyone should recognize the truth about it. Many people have not realized it yet, and I think people are gradually waking up as a community, but there are also more and more participants. As people often say, there are new "fools" born every day. But we shouldn't take advantage of these people like that; instead, we should be committed to building a new world.

If this community only helps some useless people buy an even more useless expensive watch, we have to ask ourselves, which system is better? We must be able to answer this question because we already occupy a significant position in the world. We have to do better. If we want to live better, then we must focus on not becoming part of the existing system.

We have an extraordinary opportunity, and we have already changed the world in many ways, and the world is starting to listen and accept these changes. They are beginning to recognize the value of cryptocurrency and get involved. We don't even need to argue. We have a responsibility to be good stewards of this historic moment, created by us for us, and we will pass it on to future generations.

Embrace the tradition that created the cryptocurrency industry

In summary, as you watch all of this unfold, as you see the desire for speech control, as you see the rise of these disruptive emerging technologies, you will realize that they can be a tremendous force, or a terrible force. It depends on who holds the power lever and how we decentralize them.

When you see consumer electronics evolve from individual, targeted cases to large-scale broadcast attacks, you see leaders in our field trying to reject the valuable traditions that created the cryptocurrency industry. I think these lessons are already very clear.

Therefore, we should resist bureaucracy, reject modernity, and embrace tradition, so that you can save the world. That's all we need to do.

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