Now that we can look at the numbers, it seems that the previous revelations about the internet surveillance programme PRISM, created and managed by the USA government, have been responsible for Bitcoin’s value previous sinking. We’re talking about the unveiling of information made by Edward Snowden, a former NSA agent, that happened on June 9 and apparently made the price of Bitcoin go down.
The value has recovered since then, but the improvement was minimal. However, the misguided conception that Bitcoin is a good way to make PRISM-free transactions can be pushing users to sell more than usual since they are afraid that the US government might be tracking their cryptocurrency movements.
Basically, they don’t want to be a target. What they’re forgetting is that Bitcoin was never truly anonymous to begin with and that’s not that bad, at least for some of us. It gives digital coin some necessary credibility.
The chief scientist with the Bitcoin Foundation can explain. “Bitcoin transaction privacy is really complicated. If you want to be sure that your transactions are going to be private, then you probably need to hire a cryptography PhD to analyse your system”, said Gavin Andresen previously.
Technically, it’s possible to track every transaction made by a user, as long as you know his or her Bitcoin address, and it’s really not that hard. This is possible because each transaction is recorded publicly on the network that saves all the data. So, the anonymity theory goes to space.
Going back to the PRISM inquisition and weighting all we said before, we completely understand why Bitcoin would be a target for agencies like the NSA.
However, what the authorities need to remember is that not every Bitcoin user is using cryptocurrency to buy drugs or guns or plan a terrorist attack (to better understand this program, click here). This kind of investigation and data analysis, what PRISM has been doing since 2007, can be positive or negative: it depends on each one’s point of view. What is yours?