We live in a world where many could care less about the invasion of privacy that is happening every second. But now have a population of people located all around the globe that are actively more cautious of their digital fingerprint. We see people taking up security lessons and informing themselves on the latest threats. This huge paradigm shift from being careless to careful is largely because of Crypto-currencies. Yes, historical actions as what we saw with Edward Snowden are huge shifts in mentality. But, nothing puts an unfocused mind into focus better than the threat of your wealth being stripped from you. This unique consequence of crypto is a very vital attribute to it's survival but may also be it's downfall. There will be a day when crypto gets too “large” for the Centralized systems that be. Then we will see if crypto is truly here to stay.
On a positive note, history is on our side. Whenever the few have turned on the many, the many usually prevail. I say “Usually” because we have a Goliath to face in our near future and we MIGHT not win. It will definitely be a definitive moment in crypto history. I also believe the subversive conspiracies that the centralized systems will use will not be done over night. Their actions will be drawn out and slow in order to decrease moral in our ranks. As I write this, we can already see the mobilization of these centralized systems. Their actions are not done in the public eye, but require information sharing from communities like STEEM. The centralized systems don't come out saying “HEY LOOK AT ME, WE'RE TRYING TO DESTROY CRYPTO”.
We watch them try to make their own coins, hedge millions, and destabilize the trust within crypto. The crypto community will face many battles. We will see propaganda thrown at us in every possible way. We must stay weary of these actions and be transparent among the community which is what I enjoy most about STEEM. STEEM is a collective network of information sharing crypto fiends. These types of environments in these times will help us evolve into a stronger community as a whole. We know from the history of Bitcoin that it can survive many types of attacks against it. What I fear being weakened are the end points of where we use a given crypto. In the case of Bitcoin, they won't attack it head on but will instead attack market places, exchanges, trading services, ICO's, and other vectors of attack I cannot fathom. Or we may see propaganda focused on over exaggerating the risk and the 'dark' figures that reside within crypto. I feel it will go down the same path has how they defamed the “dark net” which is nothing but data storage. We see these tactics already being unfolded with regulators using ransomware as a scapegoat for more regulation! The sad part about these regulations is that they will only slow progression and limit those who are following the law, because guess what, the criminals don't follow the law.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on terms of the battles we will face. We have already won many battles but the war is not over. Intelligence agencies are not helping either. There are new leaks almost every month. We have groups selling leaked 'cyber weapons' that jeopardize the stability of not only crypto but the whole internet (Not blaming the leakers for the weapons, we should be asking these three letter agencies these questions, why is there such a need for so many back doors and zero days?). Then there is the element of direct attacks on crypto infrastructure with NSA miner malware (DoublePulsar).
Do not get me wrong, this is not meant to put fear into the community. I believe knowing the 'enemy' is one of the most powerful things to wield. After all, information is what runs the world today and you cannot react to something you can't see (as far as I know). Getting past the reality that there are powerful interest that would lose a lot if crypto turns into a trillion dollar market. I even have hesitation presenting my opinion because I know this mass surveillance system will pick my dissent up. I have faith in this community though, I feel strong among it because I know that I am not alone in this. I cannot wait to face the next battles for liberty with my brothers and sisters of the crypto community.
-Citizen
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Your idea is very important.
Thanks for the useful post published by you.
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