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Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

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Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#71

Post by gojomo »

kobeya wrote: post #36
EGreg wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ZCash is only as secure as you trust 9 people and their ceremony. There's gotta be a way to do consensus about zero-knowledge proofs that's a little more... you know ... decentralized. https://petertodd.org/2016/cypherpunk-desert-bus-zcash-trust... https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/6a26rh/peter_todd_h... Before you guys start saying, banks don't trust Bitcoin either because transactions are controlled by like…

> There's gotta be a way to do consensus about zero-knowledge proofs that's a little more... you know ... decentralized. Not really, no. There is no known scheme that has similar properties but non-trusted setup. There's not a proof that it's impossible either, so something might get invented. But at the moment, no. That said I share the criticism. Even with trusted setup it could have been done much better.

If I understand correctly a recent presentation by Eli Ben-Sasson, one of ZCash's scientists, there is now at least one ZK system with this 'transparent' property (needing no trusted setup), but it is not yet practical for a blockchain currency. See Ben-Sasson on "STARK": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ9K_o-RRSY

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#72

Post by gt_ »

Jordanpomeroy wrote: post #7

Why does anyone care what Snowden thinks about crypto currency? He was a SharePoint administrator. I don't understand why his opinion is relevant. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for his sacrifice, and I think he deserves to be pardoned.

His undeniable integrity

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#73

Post by Fnoord »

dna_polymerase wrote: post #53
geofft wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was reasonably widely believed that he took the job at the NSA specifically so he could figure out what they were doing wrong and leak it.

Yeah sure, people believe what they want to believe. Or we could just accept that until 2013 he was just another wheel in the giant machinery that is the NSA and that his morals changed - for whatever reason. But he was with the bad guys.

> Yeah sure, people believe what they want to believe. Or we could just accept that until 2013 he was just another wheel in the giant machinery that is the NSA and that his morals changed - for whatever reason.

His motives and how he ultimately ended up leaking information is well documented in the 2014 documentary Citizenfour [1] and the 2016 movie Snowden [2].

> But he was with the bad guys.

Are there shades of grey or nuances or is the NSA the root of all evil? Its impossible to care about security as NSA employee? Teaching US civilians how to use GPG means you're trying to protect civilians against the NSA? The world isn't black and white.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenfour

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowden_(film)

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#74

Post by rinchik »

bogomipz wrote: post #26
wlesieutre wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before he was known for the NSA leaks he was still a privacy activist who helped teach people about cryptography. It's not totally unrelated, especially since Zcash's selling point is that it offers more privacy than Bitcoin. https://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2014/05/27/that-one...

>"Before he was known for the NSA leaks he was still a privacy activist ..." So he was a privacy activist while he worked at the NSA? Isn't this a bit like being a healthcare activist and working for McDonalds?

love it. Why can't i upvote you twice (like claps in Medium), also please pardon for unconstructive comment.

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#75

Post by Fnoord »

tambienben wrote: post #61
tambienben wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm suspicious of this.

For those of you who are down voting, perhaps you could explain why this case might be different from any other value hype. What happened to trust no one--verify?

Its different because Snowden has credibility.

He didn't receive any money for the movie Snowden (it was donated to The Guardian instead) [1]. He didn't sell any of the NSA data. He doesn't have a track record of profiting, apart from working (like we all do) and receiving some donations.

So the claim that Snowden is a proponent of Zcash because he has invested in it has no merit. There is zero proof for such statement, and his track record doesn't suggest it either.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowden_(film)

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#76

Post by firethief »

bogomipz wrote: post #26
wlesieutre wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before he was known for the NSA leaks he was still a privacy activist who helped teach people about cryptography. It's not totally unrelated, especially since Zcash's selling point is that it offers more privacy than Bitcoin. https://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2014/05/27/that-one...

>"Before he was known for the NSA leaks he was still a privacy activist ..." So he was a privacy activist while he worked at the NSA? Isn't this a bit like being a healthcare activist and working for McDonalds?

Except a healthcare activist has poorer options to make a difference at McDonalds...

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#77

Post by linkregister »

kafkaesq wrote: post #69
steeleduncan wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that clear? It is clear to me that he is brave, principled and committed to privacy. It is not clear to me that his skills extend beyond that of the average sysadmin.

An "average sysadmin" would not be (anywhere near) capable of setting up a VPN so that non-technical journalists can access a considerably sized document stash - but which not even the most powerful and well-funded spy agency on the planet can break into. For example.

According to Greenwald's original article, Snowden gave him a physical copy of the media in Hong Kong. When was the VPN introduced as a medium?

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#78

Post by linkregister »

Aqueous wrote: post #37
Jordanpomeroy wrote: post #7

Why does anyone care what Snowden thinks about crypto currency? He was a SharePoint administrator. I don't understand why his opinion is relevant. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for his sacrifice, and I think he deserves to be pardoned.

As of November, 2016, Snowden's opinions have altogether stopped being relevant, and I no longer have any confidence that he acts in good faith. The guy almost certainly lives in an FSB safe-house in Moscow, the very same FSB that just helped to launch a brazen attack on our electoral process. This is not a coincidence. Snowden and like-minded people (Assange, Greenwald, Manning) were very deliberately used as Russia…

I thought that Crowdstrike's report equated APT28 signatures with GRU, not FSB.

To defend Snowden, I haven't seen overt regime support for Putin besides a softball question being asked during the Russian President's Q&A session two years ago.

Assange's support for the regime's talking points is comically earnest to the point that he has completely given up his credibility.

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#79

Post by slg »

geofft wrote: post #42
bogomipz wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Before he was known for the NSA leaks he was still a privacy activist ..." So he was a privacy activist while he worked at the NSA? Isn't this a bit like being a healthcare activist and working for McDonalds?

I thought it was reasonably widely believed that he took the job at the NSA specifically so he could figure out what they were doing wrong and leak it.

It isn't just "widely believed", it is something he admitted to doing. I am not sure why you are being downvoted for saying it.

>For the first time, Snowden has admitted he sought a position at Booz Allen Hamilton so he could collect proof about the US National Security Agency's secret surveillance programmes ahead of planned leaks to the media.

>"My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," he told the Post on June 12. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago."

>...Asked if he specifically went to Booz Allen Hamilton to gather evidence of surveillance, he replied: "Correct on Booz."[1]

Coworkers started to become suspicious of his intentions years earlier when he was with the CIA.

>Just as Edward J. Snowden was preparing to leave Geneva and a job as a C.I.A. technician in 2009, his supervisor wrote a derogatory report in his personnel file, noting a distinct change in the young man’s behavior and work habits, as well as a troubling suspicion.

>The C.I.A. suspected that Mr. Snowden was trying to break into classified computer files to which he was not authorized to have access, and decided to send him home, according to two senior American officials. [2]

[1] - http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1268209/snowden-s...

[2] - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/us/cia-warning-on-snowden-...

Re: Edward Snowden: Zcash Is 'Most Interesting Bitcoin Alternative'

#80

Post by gnaritas »

Aqueous wrote: post #37
Jordanpomeroy wrote: post #7

Why does anyone care what Snowden thinks about crypto currency? He was a SharePoint administrator. I don't understand why his opinion is relevant. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for his sacrifice, and I think he deserves to be pardoned.

As of November, 2016, Snowden's opinions have altogether stopped being relevant, and I no longer have any confidence that he acts in good faith. The guy almost certainly lives in an FSB safe-house in Moscow, the very same FSB that just helped to launch a brazen attack on our electoral process. This is not a coincidence. Snowden and like-minded people (Assange, Greenwald, Manning) were very deliberately used as Russia…

The left and the libertarians have always been divided, they've never been a coalition, why would they start now? I mean I agree Russia fucked with the election, but I wouldn't group Snowden with Assange, Greenwalk, and Manning. Assange in particular is out to bring down the U.S. empire, his motives are always in question even if the information he chooses to release is real. Snowden is the only one in that list that deserves any respect.
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