# ETHBerlin04 Keynote: Ameen Soleimani - The Fight for Privacy

- Channel: [ETHBerlin](https://streameth.org/ethberlin)
- Date: 2024-09-04
- Duration: 30:35
- Topics: cryptocurrency, privacy, blockchain, legal, sanctions
- Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/66d8d78a35d51347e0a3e26e

## Description

ETHBerlin04 
May 24-26, 2024, CIC Innovation Campus 
Keynote: Ameen Soleimani - The Fight for Privacy  

ETHBerlin04 - https://ethberlin.org - A Department of Decentralization event - https://dod.ngo The video features a speaker at ETH Berlin discussing the importance of privacy and the issues surrounding the Tornado Cash protocol, a privacy tool for cryptocurrency transactions. The speaker gives a historical perspective on military doctrine and relates it to current events in the crypto space, emphasizing the need for individual creativity and caution against designing systems that could be misused by future bad actors.

The speaker argues that privacy is essential as governments may abuse power and full surveillance with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) is looming. They cite how good record-keeping (KYC) facilitated high casualties during the Holocaust as an example of misuse.

Tornado Cash, which was funded by MolochDAO, is presented as a necessary tool for preserving privacy in financial transactions. However, it faced legal challenges after being used by North Korean hackers to launder stolen funds. The developers of Tornado Cash were arrested and faced serious charges despite their intent to create a secure, private system.

The speaker discusses the legal battles of two developers, Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, highlighting the potential overreach of law enforcement and questioning the fairness of holding developers responsible for how their open-source tools are used. They mention various support efforts from the community, including amicus briefs filed on behalf of Tornado Cash devs against