It is no secret that the global economic outlook is continuing to worsen as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage – and with many parties looking for the security of privacy in harsh financial times, the call for privacy is on the rise as government-led intervention skyrockets.
This quest, in turn, may lead many to turn to market-leading cryptocurrencies and privacy coins.
Indeed, with central banks taking a more hands-on approach than ever before in the fight against economic recession (or worse still, depression), some are looking for ways to wrestle back control over their own financial destiny.
Weiss Ratings analyst and frequent Cryptonews.com contributor Juan Villaverde opined that crypto safe havens could become more viable as central banks become more active.
He wrote, in a blog post,
“True cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin (BTC) and leading altcoins, protect their owners from government devaluation and confiscation. Government-controlled digital money does nothing of the kind.”
He stated that privacy coins like monero (XMR) in particular might prove popular, even if the powers that be disapprove. He added,
“Most governments don’t like monero. They fear its privacy features will enable criminals and spies. We don’t deny that risk is real. But […] technology is neutral. And this type of privacy may become an essential feature demanded by millions of honest actors in the years to come.”
Other industry players concur, and state that digitization and encryption drives will develop a new impetus in the weeks, months and years ahead.
In a Project Syndicate post, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote,
“As businesses rush to adapt to the new world of social distancing, the pandemic has accelerated an already inexorable trend toward digital commerce. This broader shift should also include the widespread adoption of digital currencies, which provide stronger consumer financial and privacy protections.”
Armstrong added that in times of national and international emergencies such as World War II, humankind has naturally turned to encryption to solve its problems. He said that these same principles, when applied to finance, could see less-centralized technological solutions emerge.
The Coinbase CEO added,
“Cryptocurrencies hold the promise of creating a more open financial system, with worldwide access, instantaneous fund transfers, lower costs and vastly improved consumer-privacy protections.”
Meanwhile, per a press release shared with Cryptonews.com, Swiss startup Nym Technologies says it has developed an “advanced mixnet” that it says can “defeat National Security Agency-level adversaries in a bid to resist mass surveillance.”
The mixnet operators say the solution could help with the “current timely internet privacy problem exacerbated by COVID-19.”
The company opined that “if we don’t deploy privacy-preserving measures now, we might not get our privacy back post-COVID-19.”
Dave Hrycyszyn, Nym Technologies co-founder, stated that fighting “traffic analysis at scale” was becoming important, and concluded,
“Privacy is one of our most important rights. This is a critical time to adopt technologies that will help us protect them.”
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Learn more:
Can Bitcoin Really be Censored, Controlled, and Mass Surveilled?
‘Track & trace’ Is Key To Containing COVID-19: How Privacy Can Be Protected
Incognito Launches Anonymous Way to Swap Monero With Bitcoin & Co
Will “No KYC” Exchanges Survive in a Regulated Crypto Industry?