Why Are We Seeing Anonymous Digital Currencies On The Rise?
I guess in some governments what they would like you to believe is only terrorists use anonymous money and if your money can not be traced or tracked somehow then hey, you must be a terrorist too, after all the NSA tracks and monitors your phone calls and emails on a regular basis and it took an employee of the NSA who had a conscience to say hey wait a minute, this is not right, I need to warn the American people and when he does finally warn the American people, he himself is hunted by the NSA all the way through China and into Russia where he finally found a safe haven at least temporarily, you may have heard of him, his name is Edward Snowden.
Edward Snowden was able to shine a light on how the privacy of the American people was being invaded by rogue agencies within the U.S. without the proper clearances or permissions. Privacy concerns are now at an all time high and those who value privacy are now starting to become aware of technologies that can safeguard privacy from the prying eyes of big brother.
For those readers who are in denial of such things, who may regard this as conspiracy theory, the evidence is all around you, all you have to do is open your eyes and do some research for yourself and you will come to realize things are not as they appear to be. Russel Means, a Native American Lakota Chief recently pointed out his concerns not only about his own people but the American people and this nation as a whole, here are his quotes;
“Anybody born in the Western Hemisphere is a native American.”
“If you have local control of the economics, local control of the food stuffs, local control of transportation, you have freedom.”
“The United States is one big reservation, and we are all in it.
“I fault the American people for not being alert to [guard] their own freedom…and to value those freedoms.”
“To wrest control of the Federal Reserve will take, I’m sorry to say, a revolution.”
“Culture is about values. Anybody who says anything different is a Democrat. Or a Republican.”
“They’re not educating anybody now. They’re dumbing-down. It’s Indian education now.”
“Information deprivation has led to the dumbing-down of America.”
“Television is the training ground for subsequent generations to have the attention span of a gnat.”
“They advertize these drugs as lethal, and people still buy them. What happened to their brains?”
“America is becoming one huge sick society.”
“They are destroying the food supply. How does it feel?”
“We human beings don’t want to be eaten. That’s natural law!”
His final words are as follows;
“America is no different than this Indian reservation [Pine Ridge]. You’re dependent on the Government now, and you’re getting what you deserve. But this land is beautiful. It’s worth fighting for.”
Some of the possible reasons we are now starting to see the rise in popularity and use of anonymous digital currencies such as Monero, Navcoin, ZCash, DASH and ShadowCash just to name a few could fall in any one of the following categories:
Privacy Concerns
Financial Protection Against Tyrannical Corrupt Governments
Criminal Activity
Investor Hype
Get Rich Quick Opportunists
It more than likely is a blend of all of these characteristics as more and more people are starting to wake up to the corruption and rogue government agency activity that has been rearing it’s ugly head lately, especially in the U.S. however, there are other reasons these forms of digital currencies are being used.
Like all other forms of currency around the world including the US Dollar they are being used by criminals to commit crimes, this is nothing new, criminals will use any resources available to them to commit their crimes whether it is fiat currency, gold, silver or digital currency.
Unfortunately, criminal activity is a constant and will always be in the mix, even if there is some kind of ID system put into place on the blockchain criminals will always find a way to game the system.
Another reason these anonymous currencies are experiencing rapid growth in the markets could be the result of investor hype honing in on the apprehensions of those who truly value privacy and are loyal users of these anonymous digital currencies.
Some investors are taking advantage of the movement and pumping these currencies for all they can get then at some point will dump which will significantly impact the value of these anonymous coins.
With the recent mass influx of Initial Coin Offerings or ICO’s investor hype is at an all time high as some in the investment community have just recently witnessed the launch of Zcash which reached an incredible peak value equal to $5500 USD before tumbling to $211 USD in all of 2 weeks, so it is safe to say that investor hype does play a role in the values of these currencies and can impact the values greatly.
If you invest in these anonymous currencies or any digital currency for that matter it would be wise not to buy into the hype but instead, wait until the hype dies down and corrections have been made before you jump in and invest your life savings.
With that said, one final reason for the increase in value of these anonymous digital currencies could be the ever growing pool of individuals who have a “Get Rich Quick” or “Opportunist” mindset, these are the individuals who have heard about the Bitcoin “Gold Rush” so to speak and it’s phenomenal growth and ever increasing value think that if they can get in early enough on select alternative digital currencies and stake their claim maybe they will hit the jackpot and will get rich overnight. Then you have those who simply jump on the band wagon and enjoy the ride whether it is to the moon or straight to hell.
This writer believes that anonymous digital currencies are needed as a sort of insurance against those who would try to unlawfully invade the privacy of those individuals who diligently abide by the law however, I am skeptic that any other digital currency will generate enough support or market cap to override Bitcoin, I could be wrong but I have watched numerous attempts to achieve this milestone and none have managed to get there just yet.
There are many great innovations being built on the Bitcoin blockchain itself or using its code in some form or fashion to create other types of blockchain creations.
I believe that these anonymous digital currencies can work hand in hand with Bitcoin or other alternative digital currencies, that do not have the anonymity features they need to insure complete privacy.
These anonymous currencies can act as a type of bridge to allow users to go in and out of financial darkness at any time they choose, transacting with or without complete privacy and having the freedom to choose how, where, when, and to who a transaction is made.
If transaction does not call for complete privacy then use Bitcoin but if transaction does call for complete privacy then use the anonymous digital currency of your choice.
Some say that Bitcoin is anonymous but it is not, it is what you would call pseudonymous which means that it can be traced by anyone who wants to put in the effort, today there are tools that have been created that can help in those efforts that make it much easier.
It is still up in the air whether or not mixers or tumblers actually work with Bitcoin so until Bitcoin actually comes out with features that offer complete anonymity there will always be a need for the anonymous digital currencies.
To wrap this up, what my thoughts on anonymous digital currencies like Monero, Navcoin, Zcash, DASH and ShadowCash, I think they are needed and I am hopeful that one day maybe we will achieve complete anonymity in our financial dealings with complete privacy, however, I still think we have a long way to go before we get there.
That being said, I like these anonymous digital currencies and I am a user of some of them myself, my hat is off to the developers of these coins and I would encourage them to continue the quest because what you are doing is high risk and dangerous to some degree but in today’s world we need individuals like you who are not easily intimidated and have the knowledge and experience to answer the call of duty when protecting those you care about against rogue entities that seek to erode privacy and freedom.
To the investors I would say don’t just hype these technologies to make a quick buck, take a little time to understand what these technologies really represent, do not let greed run the show or you run the risk of harming these amazing technologies that can possibly change the world for the better.
And to the opportunists and the band wagoneers, the odds are against you when it comes to getting rich over night. Occasionally it happens but you must be in the right place at the right time and this rarely happens. Instead of rushing to the next new shiny object that appears in your path take the time to do your homework and do some research on what it is you are putting your hard earned money into, you will be glad you did as so many have lost their life savings making poor choices especially in the markets.
Until the next article this is BitRebel signing off, have a great day!!