Should crypto and other tech founders go anonymous?

Introduction

The founder of Bitcoin is still unknown as a person. There have been lots of assumptions as to who is behind the history of blockchain technology. Maybe Bitcoin founder saw the future of government censorship which is happening today and decided to avoid the problem entirely by hiding their identity. We continue to loose count of the number litigations against technology designed to promote freedom, especially crypto companies and their founders.

The arrest of Pavel Durov Telegram founder over the weekend re-ignited debate about freedom of speech, censorship and government interference in technology innovations. In the midst of this conversation arises an important though about how best to fight censorship especially for technology platforms and businesses that promote decentralization. Should the founders hide their identity like the founder of Bitcoin just to avoid problem with authorities or should they just declare who they are and face any hostilities that may arise in the future?

Pavel Durov arrested by French authorities

The Telegram founder landed in France Saturday night and was immediately taken into custody by the authorities. Right now, he is being held in that country because of allegations made by the French authorities about Telegram messaging app. Media people familiar with the situation reported that his arrest was because his Telegram platform is completely unmoderated. And as a result of lack of content moderation, the app is being used to carry out lots of illegal activities by various groups.

The allegations against Telegram includes that the platform is facilitating global terrorism and money laundering. This may be related to ongoing investigations concerning a knife attack at a ceremony in France by a suspected Islamist that left many people injured. If convicted of the allegations, Durov might have to spend considerable time in prison, with some quarters hinting that the prison term could be up to 20 years.

Telegram is a global messaging platform with millions of users. It is not surprising that the arrest of its founder has sparked reaction among the internet community with many condemning the arrest as pure attack on free speech. Below are some of the reactions from top figures across the globe.

• Toncoin blockchain

The team behind toncoin has made a public comment on the arrest and openly pledged their support to the Telegram founder as he handles this face-off with the French authorities. Remember that Toncoin blockchain is popular on Telegram with so many mini-apps and tap-to-earn crypto projects launched on the blockchain and accessed mainly through Telegram. Check out their release on X:

Following the recent news related to the Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov, we want to assure everyone that the TON community remains strong and fully operational. As a community committed to freedom of speech and decentralization, we stand firmly by Pavel during this challenging time. Pavel has been a dedicated advocate for these values, and we believe his efforts to promote an open and decentralized internet will continue to inspire millions. source

Many other figures from the internet community have expressed their displeasure of the arrest by French Authorities. Elon Musk, owner of the popular micro-blogging platform X (formerly Twitter), has also joined voices with others in condemning the arrest. Musk started a tag #freepavel on his platform which is already generating thousands of reactions from his fans and platform users.

A very popular figure in the crypto community - the founder of Ethereum - Vitalik Buterin raised concerns as to what such government crackdown on tech founders would mean for the industry in the future. It definietly will not look good if founders would start to worry about government hunting them down because they have created something that promotes uncensored communication. His concern is what gave birth to the topic of this article and its something to think about.

To reveal or hide a founder's identity?

The Bitcoin founder is still not known as a person today. Otherwise, chances would have been that there are many legal battles across the globe against him. Binance and many other crypto companies have had to battle censorship from various government agencies popularly, SEC in the US. And still using Binance as an example, its co-founder is currently serving prison term in the US. So should tech founders especially crypto founders go anonymous from day 1?

Well personally, I think I would be a tough ask to hide a founder's identity in the manner that Bitcoin did. For one thing, the Bitcoin founder successfully remained anonymous because the blockchain did not need not to put up a business identity to exist. But unfortunately for many other tech projects if not all, a corporate presence is important to capture the trust of fans and community. Bitcoin was an invention not known by the world when it arrived. Thus, it was all too easy to hide behind a sydonym at that early stage.

Today, new blockchain projects will only be taken serious of the team is known. Even when some of them try to protect their public images from circulation, they are almost always known in some personal way. Revealing their identity is extremely important to build community trust especially at a time like this when many scam projects are all over the space.

While it might be very difficult for a tech founder to stay out of public eye, the unfortunate situation of government censorship is what we all must face. Just as this case of Telegram and others like Binance, various authorities might want to maintain control of this platform in in order to censor free speech. They might want some data removed from these platforms or revealed to them. How far this will go on remain to be seen though.

Have your Say!!!

So what do you think about this subject. Is it possible for tech founders to hide their identity and succeed with the business? Is there a better way to handle censorship other than hiding their identity? Have your say in the comment section of this post. Lets discuss.