Former Coinbase CTO Issues Warning On Secret Crypto Backdoor…

Fears over a government ‘backdoor’ for crypto—particularly Bitcoin, have persisted for years now.

While the state likely cannot execute a 51% attack, it can pressure big tech companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft to create backdoors that access smartphones, browsers, and other devices to access sensitive information and keys stored there.

Former Coinbase Chief Technical Officer, Balaji Srinivasan, warns of such an attack that could possibly come through Apple or Google:

STOPPING THE BACKDOOR ATTACK

In 2010, even after Twitter and Facebook helped catalyze the Arab Spring, people still would have thought it implausible if you'd said "in ten years, the most important political issue in the world for a few days will be whether the President of the…

— Balaji (@balajis) May 19, 2023

You can read the full text here:

Daily Hodl didn’t fail to notice Srinivasan’s warning and explained:

He says the US government probably won’t have the capability to execute a 51% attack on Bitcoin.

A 51% attack is when a miner or mining pool gains more than 50% of the network hash rate in order to rewrite the ledger and double spend prior transactions.

Srinivasan says China might be able to pull off a 51% attack, but notes that most mining happens outside Chinese borders now, making that outcome less likely.

Previously, Balaji Srinivasan made headlines by waging $1 million that the price of Bitcoin would balloon to $1 million in 90 days.

He later paid out the bet claiming that it was simply a PR stunt to raise awareness about the precarious financial position of the U.S. government.

Could his recent warning serve the same purpose?

Years ago, Wired wrote this piece:

To judge by FBI director James Comey’s warnings to Congress and the public, last week’s decision pushes us one step closer to a world where police surveillance “goes dark,” encryption reigns supreme, and pedophiles and drug dealers enjoy perfect immunity from the cops.

But before surveillance hawks prophesy doomsday or privacy doves celebrate, let’s remember: For better or for worse, encryption usually doesn’t keep determined cops out of a target’s private data. In fact, it only rarely comes into play at all.

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