Longtime crypto critic surprises with related privacy warning

Molly White, long term cryptocurrency critic, recently expressed concern about governments cracking down on Tornado Cash. Considering Molly’s history of posts, her warning came as a surprise to many cryptocurrency passionate.

In particular, the cryptocurrency mixing service on Ethereum (ET) would have been used for criminal money laundering, but White is concerned about the consequences of this recent court decision.

In her item “Privacy, Human Rights and Tornado Cash,” Molly White talks about the sentencing of Alexey Pertsev, developer and operator of Tornado Cash. In a In an unprecedented sentence, a Dutch court sentenced Pertsev to 64 months in prisonas reported by Finbold.

In particular, despite the service’s involvement in laundering billions of dollars, White is concerned about the conviction of Pertsev and similar cases. As written, he acknowledges that his position may surprise those who know it as cryptographic criticism. However, he explains that mixers like Tornado Cash are also used by honest people who seek privacy on public blockchains.

Crypto Wars and Privacy as a Human Right

In this context, Molly White believes in the right to write cryptographic code and operate services without liability for criminal activity. She draws parallels to the “Cryptocurrency Wars,” where writing cryptographic code was finally considered protected speech in the United States. Furthermore, you highlight the importance of privacy as a human right.

Privacy is indeed a well-recognized fundamental human right, included in the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12, which applies to financial and monetary privacy.

“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks on his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

– Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12

Additionally, the United Nations-affiliated Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has set to International standards for privacy in the digital age:

“The right to privacy is fundamental to the enjoyment and exercise of human rights online and offline. It constitutes one of the foundations of a democratic society and plays a key role in the realization of a broad spectrum of human rights, including in the digital sphere, ranging from freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, access to and enjoyment of economic rights and social. Interference with the right to privacy may also have a disproportionate impact on certain individuals and/or groups, thereby exacerbating inequality and discrimination.”

– International standards for privacy in the digital age

This strong recognition highlights the importance of peaceful individuals ensuring their privacy by all means under the presumption of innocence until a harmful crime is actually committed and properly adjudicated. This therefore includes the peaceful development and use of privacy tools regardless of the use of the same tool by particularly criminal individuals.

In conclusion, the article explores the complexities of financial privacy and the arbitrary nature of it regulations. White believes people should have more financial privacy than they currently have. Furthermore, he makes it clear that his criticism of cryptocurrency focuses on educating people about a technology who has disappointed his original ideals.

White is concerned about the lack of financial privacy in the cryptocurrency industry, despite it being heavily promoted as such. However, he fears that industry crackdowns could undermine financial privacy and harm vulnerable people.

Finally, while cryptocurrency may not be the best solution for financial privacy, the longtime critic recognizes its potential value in a world of diminishing privacy. Even more, Molly White defends the right of honest people to fight for it despite current challenges.

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