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Comment by spamizbad | Hacker News Reader

Not surprised: it seems a common theme with crypto evangelists is the application of the blockchain to avoid sanctions. I don't think its deeply ideological (as in anti-America/Pro-NK) - it's more like they view US financial hegemony as a "competitor" to blockchain technology and a hinderance to global cryptocurrency adoption.

Why he would throw his life away like this seems silly. I don't see the point in taking payment for a presentation you could record and upload on youtube which can be readily viewed by North Korea's leadership.

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It's the ultimate place any honest monetary cipherpunk ends up at. Either you have government controlled financial systems, or you have decentralized financial systems.

Getting to any middleground is pretty tortured, both technically and morally.

Sort of like "Strong encryption permits a world in which child pornography cannot be tracked" with respect to encryption. It's ugly, but true.

(Said as someone who doesn't care about cryptocurrency enough to have a strong opinion either way)

> Either you have government controlled financial systems, or you have decentralized financial systems.

Some parties control the latter; don't be fooled. The question is, who?

No, I think this is a misconception. Sanctions can work without government controlled money. Prosecuting terrorism or organized crime can be done without government controlled money. Catching tax evaders can be done without government controlled money. Everything can work without government controlled money, it just requires more on the ground police work. All of these things were done without government controlled money not very long ago.

Similar to how the job of police would be a lot easier if every citizen was required to carry a surveillance microphone, their job is easier if all transactions are can be censored and surveilled. But it is not necessary.

For example, sanctions: Find people who are trading with a sanctioned regime by looking at if they are importing goods from there. Very easy. If they are paying for labor (remote IT work or something), you can also catch that. Informants, etc.

Sanctions only work that way in a world that doesn't exist - one with 100% agreement and compliance with sanctions at a nation-state level. The reason monetary controls are so critical to sanctions is that they make it more difficult for the countries that don't want to abide by the sanctions to do bypass them. Not impossible, but more difficult.

I think India's massive trade volume with Russia contradicts you

The US specifically doesn't choose to enforce some of the harsher sanction penalties on India for geopolitical reasons.

You can be pro encryption, but acknowledge that it makes tracking child porn harder is an unwanted side effect, without aiding the child porn creators.

So you can be pro decentralized financial systems without actively helping totalitarian governments to use them.

Sure, but you don't have to go to a child predator conference to advice professional child abusers on how to avoid being tracked.

I'd say it is deeply ideological. Not necessarily anti-US/pro-NK, but anti-any government and pro market supremacy.

> I don't see the point in taking payment for a presentation

Maybe taking payment was the point!

He likely decided to give the speech in person so that he could spend time in North Korea and develop relationships with government officials for the purpose of future (illegal) business.

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