{"id":8472,"date":"2021-08-04T09:51:27","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T13:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/?p=8472"},"modified":"2021-08-04T09:51:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T13:51:27","slug":"in-crypto-no-one-cares-who-you-are-heres-why-thats-a-good-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/magazine\/2021\/08\/04\/in-crypto-no-one-cares-who-you-are-heres-why-thats-a-good-thing","title":{"rendered":"In crypto, no one cares who you are: Here\u2019s why that\u2019s a good thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blockchains provide a trust-free anonymous intermediary for objective transactional actions, putting wealth transfer back in the hands of the individual and out of the hands of centralized control.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This, unsurprisingly, has stepped on the toes of a number of governments. To make matters worse, supporting this technology can be misconstrued as taking a stance against your home nation and can pose a massive risk to someone\u2019s reputation. So, what can we do about it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One exciting phenomenon that has surfaced over the years in blockchain culture is the choice to use an alias or pseudonym while using the internet \u2014 a digital profile with no ties to your real-world identity, often further hidden behind a VPN. This has resulted in a strange phenomenon where the most credible information is now coming from various animal avatars or obscure anime references.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To an outsider, or \u201cnormie,\u201d it would seem entirely irrational to seek information from individuals who do not have some form of real-world verification. However, there is a growing number of people who believe the days of your real-world or \u201cmeatbag\u201d identity are numbered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is why that could be a very good thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Giving a voice to the voiceless<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u201cArguing that you don\u2019t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don\u2019t care about free speech because you have nothing to say\u201d \u2013 Edward Snowden<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It should be understood that these online personas seen on Twitter are not anonymous, and instead, as Balaji Srinivasan observed, these aliases are pseudonymous. Entirely anonymous users seen on websites such as 4chan have less concern over building a reputation. This is where pseudonymous profiles have strong utility surrounding the instances where they can build a reputation around their online alias, independent of their real-world reputation. The clear benefits of independent reputational personas may not be as pertinent in western societies compared with more speech restrictive nations such as China or the more obvious and severe example of North Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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