TechFlow News, November 11 — According to Cointelegraph, Edward Snowden, former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and privacy advocate, delivered a speech at the Near Protocol's Redacted conference in Bangkok, Thailand, emphasizing the importance of decentralization and criticizing the influence of venture capital on blockchain projects.
Snowden cited Solana as an example, describing it as "born imprisoned" due to substantial venture capital funding. He argued that despite Solana's rapid growth, transferring too much ownership to investors could hinder its independent operation. Snowden acknowledged Solana's future potential but noted it currently faces significant decentralization challenges.
On AI-driven surveillance, Snowden warned that governments and corporations might leverage AI to process vast amounts of personal data in real time, enabling large-scale, real-time data analysis. He called for the use of open-source tools to counter centralized control, describing the open-source model as "highly empowering."
Snowden also referenced Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)'s previous use of its 15 million Uniswap token voting power to reject a proposal to deploy Uniswap v3 on the BNB Chain, highlighting how major centralized stakeholders can exert control over supposedly decentralized projects.
