The researcher believes that cybercriminals will eventually attack Bitcoin. Antonopoulos considers that if Bitcoin does not offer greater privacy, other tools will.
Andreas Antonopoulos is a Bitcoin evangelist and one of the most recognized figures in the world of cryptocurrencies. He considers that Bitcoin is in danger if it does not guarantee its users greater privacy.
The author of “Mastering Bitcoin” believes that the first cryptocurrency “will not survive a concerted attack at the state level” aimed at punishing people who use it. He said that the solution would be to turn it into a tool with greater privacy guarantees.
Last September, Antonopoulos considered that, although there are currently few attempts to attack Bitcoin users in the world, this situation will eventually become something common.
Furthermore, the programmer stated that governments cannot prevent people from using Bitcoin or confiscate their funds. “However, they can confiscate your family and throw them into a prison cell; they can take possession of their bodies and throw them into a dungeon. If using the system has real-life consequences for your physical security, then we have a problem,” he said.
The author of “The Internet of Money” thinks that the Bitcoin community is currently in a “honeymoon” period. However, he considers that it is necessary to turn it into a tool ready to protect itself from attacks. “The only reason for it not to be like that is that it is not systemically dangerous yet. However, it will [eventually] suffer attacks,” Antonopoulos reflected.
The researcher also assessed that even if Bitcoin fails, it will not mean “the end.” Necessity would eventually lead to guaranteeing the privacy of users in some way. He added that “another system may do it” if Bitcoin does not.
Governments and Private Companies Have Their Eye on Bitcoin’s Privacy
Antonopoulos’ vision seems to a few years to be ahead in the future. However, governments are already targeting the privacy of Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies, and the Internet in general.
The European Police Office (Europol) recently referred to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a threat against its actions to fight illicit activities. They made this claim even though they recognized that only 1% of transactions with Bitcoin are connected to illegal activities.
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has also targeted privacy in cryptocurrencies, even on Bitcoin’s Lightning network. For this reason, firms Chainalysis, Elliptic, and Ciphertrace are tracking movements with cryptocurrencies for them. They are already trying to do the same with those focusing on privacy.
Beyond governments and companies that are against privacy, the apathy of users themselves could be the biggest threat, according to a Coin Metrics report last September.
According to that report, the total transactions with privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, such as Monero, Zcash, and Grin, represent only 6% of daily transactions with Bitcoin. Besides, the numbers of transactions with privacy tools on Bitcoin, such as the Wasabi or Samourai Wallet mixers, might not be representative either.
By Alexander Salazar
