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Edward Snowden warns bitcoin industry against trusting politicians seeking votes
In recent years, bitcoin conferences have attracted a steady stream of politicians, from Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to Vivek Ramaswamy. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump’s decision to to collect funds This year’s annual Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee, has also drawn increased attention ahead of the November 2024 election.
Speaking at the conference from Russia, exiled NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden issued a dire warning over the weekend about the recent rise of politicians in the cryptocurrency space.
“I see we have a lot more political representation here,” Snowden said, before offering his skeptical opinion on their true motivations. “They fight us, and then they try to make us like them.”
“Vote, but don’t join a cult,” he warned. “They are not part of our tribe. They are not your personality. They have their own interests. Don’t submit to them, even if you have to vote for them.”
Snowden was probably referring to Trump. appearance At the conference, the presidential candidate pledged to oust Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to loud applause. Gensler has drawn criticism from the industry for his sweeping changes to cryptocurrency companies and what’s been called “regulation through enforcement.” The SEC is currently in a legal dispute with several cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, the largest regulated cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Kraken, and others.
At the cryptocurrency conference, Snowden also warned bitcoin proponents that the underlying power structures in the United States are unlikely to change, even under a new administration. “For the average working person, whether we’re talking about this election or any election in the last 20 years, any given election tends to feel like the same cop wearing a different uniform,” Snowden said. “And that’s a problem.”
“Look at the economy. We’re seeing an increasing concentration of resources in fewer and fewer hands,” Snowden added. “You either play by their rules or you don’t play at all, and that has to change.”