The canary in the coal mine

Tornado Cash and a reminder that crypto is about Money AND Politics

We crypto people spend most of our time discussing money and technology. The new trends, the latest promising project, price predictions and cycles.

But let us not forget the reason why this whole space came into being:

It's very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly. I'm better with code than with words though.

Satoshi Nakamoto

The arrest a Tornado Cash developer in Netherlands today should remind us the idea that crypto is still fundamentally a political revolution through monetary technology.

Tornado is a decentralized protocol for private transactions on Ethereum. It mixes coins, obfuscating their origin. It is widely used by hackers and scammers, but is also used by people looking to keep their privacy, for multiple reasons.

I’m completely ok with centralized services banning Tornado (like USDC did):

Luiz @dgntec

Unpopular opinion: USDC enforcing their ability to ban certain “tainted” apps actually makes it *less* risky as a centralized, semi-regulated stablecoin. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. When using centralized services, know what you signed up for.

But when authorities go after developers and arrest them for essentially writing code, it’s a different ball game.

Tornado is a tool like the World Wide Web is a tool. You shouldn’t be able to arrest people for create privacy protecting tools, on the grounds that they “facilitate crime”.

Luiz @dgntec

First they came for Silk Road, and I did not speak out — Because I was not dealing illegal stuff. Then they came for Tornado, and I did not speak out — Because I was not mixing transactions. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.

Let us not forget the real reason why this space came into existence.

No amount of tech money, celebrity endorsement and institutional investor attention should change the fact that the primary revolution is political. Sometimes we need reminders like this to wake up. Pay attention to the canaries in the coal mine.