Reigniting the cypherpunk spirit with Juan Benet x Protocol Labs

Mon, Feb 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

Do you feel like the world is taking a dystopian turn? We sit down with a visionary tech leader who believes we can better coordinate, support, and work together. They are building technologies designed to challenge power dynamics, give sovereignty to people, and make the cypherpunk dream a reality. Juan Benet x Protocol Labs Is the inventor of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a new protocol to make the web faster, safer, and more open, and Filecoin, a cryptocurrency incentivized storage network. The IPFS Project has grown into a large open source movement to re-decentralize the web, safeguard our data, and improve our applications. Juan is the founder of Protocol Labs, the internet tech R&D lab that develops IPFS and Filecoin. He studied Computer Science at Stanford University, and is obsessed with knowledge, science, and technology. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:17 Why Privacy Matters 01:15 Digital Rights & Infrastructure 03:01 Building a Free Internet 03:59 Privacy & Security Community 07:44 History of Civil Rights 08:02 AI, Privacy & the Future 09:05 Dystopia vs Optimism 11:02 Surveillance & 1984 12:51 Cypherpunks & Crypto Origins 15:44 Tech Tribalism & Cooperation 18:43 Messaging Apps & Security 21:08 Funding Open Source 27:44 Tokens & Crypto Models 32:00 Personal Path into Privacy 35:56 Peer-to-Peer & IPFS Origins 40:23 Real-World Impact of IPFS 43:38 The Road Ahead 46:28 AI, Ethics & Security 50:38 Final Thoughts 51:11 Outro https://x.com/juanbenet https://www.protocol.ai interviewer: Mykola Siusko x Web3Privacy Now: https://x.com/nicksvyaznoy camera & editing: Babybit x Web3Privacy Now: https://x.com/BabyBitProd