Russian human rights campaigner and chess supremo Gary Kasparov has said that the current economic crisis, which has led to unconventional monetary policy, will drive people towards bitcoin.
Bitcoin’s finite supply compares favorably to agenda-driven printing of money by governments, noted the Avast security ambassador, who also chairs the Human Rights Foundation and the Renew Democracy Initiative.
Speaking to Forbes on the intersection of human rights and new technologies, Kasparov said cryptocurrencies enable the public to regain control of personal finances at a time when unilateral moves by government and institutions are on the rise.
“The good thing about bitcoin is that you know exactly the number – the magic number of 21 million. And we understand the formula behind that. But when you look at the other side, the Fed for instance, you never know how many trillions of dollars will appear on the market tomorrow that will damage your savings,” he observed.
Kasparov said cryptocurrencies’ potential for abuse gets overstated but it is the upside which must be harnessed to empower individuals. Crypto offers means to protect personal finances against inflation and state interference and “anything that can offer us the opportunity to take back control or some control of our privacy is always welcome,” the chess grandmaster said.
“That’s why I think the steady rise in popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology as a concept is inevitable, because it’s a response to the shift of power from individuals to states or other institutions that may act on our privacy without our consent,” he added.
As chairperson of the Human Rights Foundation, Kasparov has promoted blockchain and cryptocurrency as a means to empower dissidents around the world.
“For us, it was important for us to address every violation of human rights, and we were trying to help these people, most of them under severe attacks by their governments – even if they left their countries, their financial accounts were hacked, their information was stolen – so we have been providing special training courses.”
He continued: “We’ve invited famous hackers to help them and to work with them – we have been using every opportunity to offer them extra protection, and of course blockchain and bitcoin were very natural choices to incorporate into this strategy.”
Kasparov also criticised the discriminatory treatment of customers from one territory to the other by tech giants and encouraged internet users to practice “digital hygiene” to stay safe from governments and other third parties.
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