Edward Snowden: Bitcoin Unaffected By Government Crackdowns
The whistleblower Edward Snowden has been vocal about Bitcoin’s ability to survive governments’ increasing regulatory scrutiny on cryptocurrencies around the world.
On Sunday, the ex-CIA employee tweeted that Bitcoin has gotten stronger on the back of government bans and anti-crypto policies.
Sometimes I think back to this and wonder how many people bought #Bitcoin then.
It's up ~10x since, despite a coordinated global campaign by governments to undermine public understanding of—and support for—cryptocurrency.
He referenced an earlier tweet from March 13, 2020, amid the throes of the Black Thursday decline that saw crypto and equity markets tank amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic.
Snowden was unshaken by Bitcoin’s 50% drop, saying that it was the first time in a while he “felt like buying Bitcoin.”
His latest tweet read:
“It’s up ~10x since [March 13, 2020], despite a coordinated global campaign by governments to undermine public understanding of—and support for—cryptocurrency.”
On the Black Thursday crash of March 2020, BTC dropped to $3,800 but has since gone on to set a new all-time high of about $64,800.
At the time of writing Bitcoin is trading above $47,850, which is more than 12 times since Snowden’s tweet back in March 2020.
2021 has been a year of crypto crackdowns, led by US and China.
Several Bitcoin miners have exited China, moving their hardware to locations overseas. The shutdown of crypto mining activity in China even temporarily caused a massive decline in the Bitcoin hash rate.
Anti-Bitcoin sentiments also seem rife in Washington, with some members of Congress espousing negative rhetoric about cryptocurrencies while also calling for stricter laws.
Regulators such as Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, have also pushed for more stringent cryptocurrency laws that critics say could derail digital innovation in America.
While the big boys play politics, Bitcoin adoption continues to grow, and small nation-states are even getting into the mix. El Salvador recently made history as the first country to accept BTC as legal tender in a move that could have significant implications across Central and South America.
Another significant event was Ukraine’s parliament approving law making Bitcoin payments legal in the East European nation.
Snowden has even previously commented on El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, stating that other nations could become incentivized to accept BTC as a reserve asset, which now seems to be the case.
