The lead programmer working on cryptocurrency Monero has said that the coin should be viewed as a currency and not an investment.
Speaking to Forbes, Riccardo Spagni claimed that Monero was not designed to be a vehicle for investment.
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Instead, the South African said that it was crafted as a currency with very specific privacy features.
“I’m a big advocate for personal privacy,” said Spagni. “I think that it should be a basic human right. The way all our data has just sort of been splurged online through hacks and compromises and malware and sometimes our own stupidity, we’re in a situation where privacy-preserving projects are a necessity.”
Unlike other cryptocurrencies, transactions made using Monero are almost entirely hidden. For instance, while one may not be able to determine who the two counterparties in a Bitcoin transaction are, one can still see their public keys on the blockchain.
Conversely, Monero is designed to prevent that from happening, making it even more difficult to determine who is sending money to whom using the cryptocurrency.
“I will slay you where you stand”
On top of highlighting its privacy features, Spagni, who is also working as Chief Technology Officer for a ticketing company called Tari, spoke extremely disparagingly about initial coin offerings (ICOs).
“My problem with ICOs is not the act of selling targets, it’s that it’s being done in an environment where there is a lot of murkiness both from a regulatory and an ethical perspective,” he said. “Right now, we have no regulatory clarity on whether ICOs are legal or not.”
Those comments were slightly more ‘PC’ than statements Spagni made when Tari was launched eight months ago. In a ‘FAQ’ style introduction to Tari’s products, Spagni posted the question, ‘so you’re launching an ICO?’, to himself.
His response?
“I will slay you where you stand.”
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