(KYC Part 1) Why KYC Is Dangerous

The audio is a bit glitchy at the beginning....

Back in the Dark Ages (and still now with the banking system) it made sense to have a customer prove their identity when making or receiving a money transfer. The system the banks use is flawed in that the account numbers are public and so without the requirement of proof of identity, anyone with the account number could make a transfer out of the account.

With cryptocurrencies, it's different. Your public key can only be used to send coins to your account, not to withdraw them or perform any other operation. If coins are sent to a public crypto address, security is taken care of already by the system. It's built in by design. You will get them and then only you, with your private key, can withdraw them. The need for an identity verification has been removed, and so has the risk of those data being hacked, which is not a small risk. 

So why do so many sites demand photo ID? 

Some sites, such as exchanges, are now required to implement KYC by law in some countries. The lawmakers claim it is to stop money-laundering, and that sounds reasonable until you remember that the biggest money-launderers are the banks themselves, along with some three-letter government agencies. Really it's about control. Crypto offers us the freedom to trade without any manufactured barriers, but governments, who don't produce anything to trade, can only exist through taxation.

That's fine, we don't need to get into any argument about the morals of that. But does government have a right to introduce new laws that restrict everyone's freedom, just to make their own tax collection easier? The fact that they lie about the reason for it indicates not. If they were to tell the truth, that they want to be able to see every transaction that you make, regardless of whether it's taxable or not, this might not be imposed on us so easily. 

KYC makes no sense in a security scenario where it has been superseded by technological advances. It's just an old-fashioned idea that if you have ID you are somehow "better" than someone who doesn't.  

What About The Rest Of Them?

But there are others, for example Brave Browser, who also demand KYC. They are not an exchange, yet they claim that they do this in order to be "more compliant". Compliant with what? What future nightmare world are they envisaging that they are eagerly complying with? Other sites don't do this, and they are not being shut down, or harassed by gentlemen in trench-coats and hats. 

When I see a justification, besides the parroting of the "money laundering" talking point, it's usually got something to do with having to run a business. Sometimes it is necessary to go beyond short-sighted or blind following of policy, and think of the future we are creating. Time and time again this point has been proven in history. Are we to be led willingly once again into the arms of tyranny?

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"
-Samuel Adams 1776

For those who value freedom, these trends are very troublesome. Obviously they are not any bother for those who are scurrying to "comply". Not yet, anyway. We have found an escape route via crypto from the onerous demands of those who would control us, and the reaction is going to be even greater surveillance and control. 

And there seems to be little push-back. What's going on? Is it the fluoride? The education system? What?

Any ideas?