Railgun researcher and advocate, Alan Scott Jr, has expressed his belief that US senators and the FBI may not be as opposed to privacy-focused cryptocurrency protocols as some may think. Scott believes that intelligence agencies like the FBI are primarily concerned with combating bad actors.
In an interview with Cointelegraph at ETH Global in Sydney on May 2nd, Scott, who contributes to and advocates for the privacy-focused protocol Railgun, stated that based on his meetings with senators and the FBI in Washington D.C., he saw no evidence of an anti-crypto privacy crusade on Capitol Hill. He emphasized that there are many intelligent individuals in the upper levels of government who genuinely want to do the right thing and protect people.
Scott pointed out that the FBI is a multifaceted organization, and the individuals he spoke with were less concerned with privacy protocols and more focused on preventing financial crimes committed by bad actors. He stated, “Their concerns revolve around potential issues that could hinder their ability to catch these bad actors.”
According to Scott, his discussions with US politicians and regulators were largely positive, with many of them making genuine efforts to understand new developments in the crypto space. He mentioned the recent arrest of the founders of crypto mixer and Bitcoin wallet, Samourai Wallet, on money laundering charges, as well as the Department of Justice’s claim that the platform facilitated $2 billion in illegal transactions and $100 million in money laundering. Despite these actions, Scott did not see a broader crusade against privacy in crypto.
Scott highlighted that Railgun is focused on removing intermediaries in finance, and privacy is a fundamental building block of decentralized finance (DeFi). He stated that privacy is already a part of traditional finance and emphasized the importance of defending and raising awareness about privacy in crypto.
Scott also expressed his concern that making privacy in crypto illegal would result in the creation of a highly accurate surveillance machine that can be monitored in real time, which he deemed as extremely unfortunate.
Railgun, a privacy-focused protocol that utilizes smart contracts for private transactions on the Ethereum network and Layer 2 networks like Polygon and Arbitrum, has faced legal scrutiny in recent years, similar to other privacy protocols like Tornado Cash. Railgun denied allegations in April that it was used to launder illegally obtained cryptocurrencies and stated that its technology prevents bad actors from exploiting the protocol.
Disclaimer: This article does not provide investment advice. Investors should be aware of the high volatility and risk associated with cryptocurrencies and conduct their own research.
