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Smuggler: It’s about beating surveillance. London is known for having too many cameras and I’m pretty pissed off when it comes to being photographed everywhere I go. You could take down the cameras, but I’m an anarchist so I don’t believe in using my power against the will of other people, so I’m wearing a mask instead.
Frank: I think the Big Brother nation will become ubiquitous and we’ll all be constantly tracked by cameras that will identify our faces, so now it is time to make a stand against them.
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Smuggler: Before doing it here, I talked to the police and asked what the legal status is and they were cool with it. They had a smile and were a little bit wary of what I was up to, but they were cool.But what if some rogue cops try to force you to remove the masks?
They have no legal power to force us to take them off in the UK.Actually, yeah, I guess it’s on the the same legal ground as a woman wearing a burqa. It’s just a good job we’re not in France.
[Laughs] Yeah, on the other hand – being caught wearing a burqa there and being fined would be worth it. Screw them.As hackers and anarchists, what’s your main interest in Bitcoin?
Frank: It’s a great technology to bring us more freedom, because it can circumvent the traditional banking system and allow us to transfer very quickly.How do you feel about it being the currency of things like Silk Road?
Smuggler: Well, Silk Road has never used force against anyone. It sells illegal, dangerous stuff, but people are going to get that somehow and Silk Road isn't personally attacking anyone, you know? If you look at what the drug war has done to our freedom, you could say it really sucks. All it's done is drive up the profit for the drug cartels. Look at Mexico. In my opinion, stuff like Silk Road should be much bigger because it would help to drive the cartels out of the game.How would you like to see Bitcoin grow in the future?
Frank: I’d like to see it somewhat replace paper money and things like Western Union, taking away the profit from the banks. I’d like to see a lot of over the counter exchanges using Bitcoins with smartphones.
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Smuggler: It’s not about Bitcoin becoming the only thing on the market. It’s about having other options. I’m a big cash lover, actually. Bitcoin is more about having a more competitive market place of currency – not having a legal monopoly on currency. The cool thing with Bitcoin is that it’s a secure public ledger. For example, in Third World countries, having Bitcoin to fund property would allow poor people to capitalise on their houses, instead of having their money stolen from them all the time by the banks.–The notion that Bitcoin could help Third World countries is strong, and I guess the idea of Bitcoins being used en masse to level the playing field a bit gives enthusiasts something solid to hold on to, but I’m still not a convert. In reality, I just can’t see that the “global elite” would ever allow something so easily accessed to destroy their empire of greed. Surely, if the banking psychopath brigades are as powerful as everyone thinks they are, they’d somehow just make sure Bitcoins become illegal tender, anyway?Perhaps I’m just not getting it, but what bugs me the most is that a lot of people who collect Bitcoins sell them on for real paper money – they totally undermine the hard work the diehard Bitcoiners have put into the digital currency.
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