US Senators, FBI Do Not Oppose Crypto Privacy – Railgun Contribution
According to Railgun researcher and activist Alan Scott Jr., US senators and intelligence agencies may not be as opposed to privacy-focused crypto protocols as some believe.
Speaking to Cointelegraph on May 2 at ETH Global in Sydney, Scott – a Railgun contributor and public advocate – said he saw no signs of a crypto privacy crusade based on his conversations with senators and the FBI in Washington, DC. Capitol Hill.
There are many people in the upper echelons of government who are “generally intelligent, want to do right, and protect people from violence.”
Railgun is a privacy-focused protocol that uses smart contracts to secure private transactions for decentralized finance (DeFi) users on the Ethereum network and multiple Layer-2 networks, including Polygon and Arbitrum.
However, Railgun falls into the same boat as other crypto privacy protocols, such as Tornado Cash, that have seen the wrong end of the law in recent years.
On April 17, the X account, which claims to be Railgun's official account, denied using North Korea and other US-sanctioned entities to launder ill-gotten crypto — specifically citing an FBI statement that said Railgun was used to launder more than $60. Millions in Ether (ETH) during the 2022 Harmony Bridge mining season.
Railgun says its zk-proof technology and “independent private proofs” systems prevent bad actors from exploiting the protocol.
Scott said crypto users should remember that the FBI is a large, multidisciplinary organization, and people he spoke to at the bureau are less concerned about privacy protocols and more concerned about bad actors looking to commit financial crimes.
“Their concern is the potential problems around disrupting their ability to catch bad actors.”
“It's a very good thing that they're paying attention to this,” Scott said, explaining that other privacy technologies like this have already been introduced.
Scott says his conversations with politicians and regulators in the US have been largely positive, and many seem to be trying their best to understand the new developments in crypto broadly.
“When we talk about crypto or you know DeFi, they ask well-informed questions and try to understand what the technology looks like, how it works and why people love us so much.”
On April 24, the co-founders of crypto mixer and Bitcoin wallet Samurai Wallet were arrested on charges of counterfeiting, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the platform handled $2 billion in illegal transactions and facilitated $100 million in money transfers.
Related: DOJ Tornado Cash Arguments Show ‘Clear Disregard for Privacy' – Lawyer
Scott added that despite these moves against mixers like Samurai Wallet and the ongoing persecution of Tornado Money developer Roman Storm, there doesn't seem to be a crusade against the concept of privacy in crypto.
“[Railgun}isbuildingisthedisintermediationoffinanceandDeFiisreallyquitebeautifulandveryimportantthingtodo”[ሬልጉን}እየገነባያለውየፋይናንስመከፋፈልነው፣እናDeFiበእውነቱበጣምቆንጆእናበጣምአስፈላጊየሆነነገርነው።[Railgun}isbuildingisthedisintermediationoffinanceandDeFiisreallyquiteabeautifulandveryimportantthingtodo”
“Privacy is part of that keystone. So while we're advocating for it and screaming for it and talking about privacy as something that's important — it's completely normal and it's really boring,” Scott said. It is part of traditional finance today.
He added that it would be unfortunate if the concept and implementation of privacy in crypto were illegal.
“It means we've created a highly accurate surveillance machine that can be monitored in real time.”
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