Is Bitcoin Protected as Speech Under the 1st Amendment? Experts Answer

With a history tied to Silk Road and countless cryptocurrencies that are struggling with adoption and volatility, blockchain technology faces challenges of interoperability, scaling, perception and use cases.

There’s also an underlying issue with data privacy — we don’t know who we’re interacting with online. When there is an inability to prove who you are, it creates a ripple effect, leaving a wake of disinformation and distrust.

Our digital, modern world has brought these trust gaps to light. Raised in South Africa during apartheid, I was born without voting rights. So, election fairness hits close to home for me, especially linked to identity.

To unshackle ourselves from old systems based on disinformation, we must foster transparency and trust, and that evolves from allowing people to better control their personal data, through digital identities and zero knowledge proofs.

This is also good for business. Not only does protecting data privacy help reduce fraud, it also cultivates brand trust. I’m a firm supporter of First Amendment rights, and I also believe we, as technologists, should be putting our efforts into creating solutions that enable trust and can withstand the test of time.