Bitcoin pioneer Amir Taaki has released a scathing critique of the cryptocurrency industry, arguing it has fundamentally betrayed its revolutionary roots. The early Bitcoin developer and creator of libbitcoin isn’t mincing words about what he sees as a colossal failure of vision.
Taaki, who introduced the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal system before later fighting alongside Kurdish forces against ISIS, claims crypto has abandoned its decentralization principles. His main beef? Crypto got cozy with the very power structures it was supposed to challenge. Oops.
“Bitcoin Core leadership is corrupt and broken,” Taaki declares, describing small block Bitcoin as nothing short of “communism.”
Bitcoin Core leadership has betrayed the revolution, turning what should be freedom into crypto-communism
He’s particularly irked about the shuttering of independent development teams and what he considers the Lightning Network‘s failure to deliver on its promises.
It’s not just Bitcoin in his crosshairs. Despite his growing interest in Ethereum’s ecosystem and zero-knowledge proofs, Taaki worries the Ethereum Foundation lacks foresight. His critique reflects how crypto’s integration into existing systems has potentially compromised its revolutionary potential. He believes corporate interests may have already captured what was once a revolutionary project. So much for sticking it to the man.
The cypherpunk activist, now running the Autonomous Polytechnics academy in Barcelona, is calling for a radical ideological shift. Crypto needs a new “regime of truth,” he insists.
The current approach of trying to play nice with traditional finance? A dead end, apparently.
His proposed solution involves creating forward-thinking leadership in Bitcoin and building ideological hacker communities focused on privacy. While Bitcoin maintains the highest decentralization among cryptocurrencies with its wider geographic node distribution, Taaki believes we’re in a “special time” historically where states will lose power to truly decentralized systems.
The community’s response has been predictably divided. Some applaud his return to crypto’s anarchist roots, while others see his anti-integration stance as naive.
Either way, Taaki’s blistering critique forces an uncomfortable question: did crypto sell out its revolution for mainstream acceptance?
