Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who became a global symbol of digital privacy after exposing mass surveillance practices, has now been revealed as a crucial participant in the creation of the privacy-centric cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC).
Snowden took part under the alias “John Dobbertin” in Zcash’s original 2016 “trusted setup” — a cryptographic ceremony foundational to the network’s private transaction capabilities. His identity was disclosed for the first time in a video released by Zcash Media, an organization focused on educating the public about the privacy coin.
“I observed that it was being developed by a team of reputable academic cryptographers, and the project struck me as both technically impressive and important,” Snowden said in the newly released footage. He emphasized that his role was purely voluntary: “I wasn’t compensated, and I held no stake. I simply supported it in the public interest.”
Zcash was designed to offer enhanced privacy features not available on Bitcoin, including shielded transactions that obscure sender, receiver, and transaction amount. These features rely on advanced cryptographic methods, which, in Zcash’s early days, required a “trusted setup” — the creation of a secret cryptographic key, split among several parties to ensure no single individual could compromise the system.
The ceremony, conducted in 2016, was meticulously planned to ensure the destruction of each participant’s key fragment after use. Snowden was one of six participants, alongside Bitcoin developer Peter Todd, privacy advocate Peter Van Valkenburgh, Zcash co-founders Nathan and Zooko Wilcox, and security engineer Derek Hinch.
Todd, known for his stringent security practices, famously executed the ceremony using a laptop purchased anonymously, housed in a Faraday cage built from aluminum foil, and used while driving through remote areas to prevent physical surveillance. The operation was dubbed “Cypherpunk Desert Bus.”
Although each participant destroyed their data afterward, the core concern remains that without verifiable proof of destruction, it’s impossible to fully guarantee the integrity of the original setup. Still, no evidence of compromised supply has ever surfaced, with migration between Zcash’s pools closely monitored.
Zcash has since improved its protocol. The “Sprout” pool was followed by “Sapling” in 2018, which introduced better performance and a broader participant base in its ceremony. The upcoming “Orchard” pool, launching alongside the Halo upgrade, eliminates the need for a trusted setup entirely — mitigating the systemic risk that once existed.
Nathan Wilcox noted that this final evolution will ensure the network’s long-term security: “As coins move into the new pool, we’re effectively removing the need to trust any past ceremony.”
Adding an intriguing twist to the story, Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox also revealed that he once consulted with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London during the protocol’s design phase. “Julian emphasized the importance of air-gapping the computers involved — which became a central part of our strategy,” Wilcox said.
While Snowden’s involvement had remained a mystery for years, his contribution highlights the philosophical and practical efforts made by early contributors to create a cryptocurrency that prioritized user privacy and technological integrity from day one.
Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who became a global symbol of digital privacy after exposing mass surveillance practices, has now been revealed as a crucial participant in the creation of the privacy-centric cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC).
Snowden took part under the alias “John Dobbertin” in Zcash’s original 2016 “trusted setup” — a cryptographic ceremony foundational to the network’s private transaction capabilities. His identity was disclosed for the first time in a video released by Zcash Media, an organization focused on educating the public about the privacy coin.
“I observed that it was being developed by a team of reputable academic cryptographers, and the project struck me as both technically impressive and important,” Snowden said in the newly released footage. He emphasized that his role was purely voluntary: “I wasn’t compensated, and I held no stake. I simply supported it in the public interest.”
Zcash was designed to offer enhanced privacy features not available on Bitcoin, including shielded transactions that obscure sender, receiver, and transaction amount. These features rely on advanced cryptographic methods, which, in Zcash’s early days, required a “trusted setup” — the creation of a secret cryptographic key, split among several parties to ensure no single individual could compromise the system.
The ceremony, conducted in 2016, was meticulously planned to ensure the destruction of each participant’s key fragment after use. Snowden was one of six participants, alongside Bitcoin developer Peter Todd, privacy advocate Peter Van Valkenburgh, Zcash co-founders Nathan and Zooko Wilcox, and security engineer Derek Hinch.
Todd, known for his stringent security practices, famously executed the ceremony using a laptop purchased anonymously, housed in a Faraday cage built from aluminum foil, and used while driving through remote areas to prevent physical surveillance. The operation was dubbed “Cypherpunk Desert Bus.”
Although each participant destroyed their data afterward, the core concern remains that without verifiable proof of destruction, it’s impossible to fully guarantee the integrity of the original setup. Still, no evidence of compromised supply has ever surfaced, with migration between Zcash’s pools closely monitored.
Zcash has since improved its protocol. The “Sprout” pool was followed by “Sapling” in 2018, which introduced better performance and a broader participant base in its ceremony. The upcoming “Orchard” pool, launching alongside the Halo upgrade, eliminates the need for a trusted setup entirely — mitigating the systemic risk that once existed.
Nathan Wilcox noted that this final evolution will ensure the network’s long-term security: “As coins move into the new pool, we’re effectively removing the need to trust any past ceremony.”
Adding an intriguing twist to the story, Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox also revealed that he once consulted with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London during the protocol’s design phase. “Julian emphasized the importance of air-gapping the computers involved — which became a central part of our strategy,” Wilcox said.
While Snowden’s involvement had remained a mystery for years, his contribution highlights the philosophical and practical efforts made by early contributors to create a cryptocurrency that prioritized user privacy and technological integrity from day one.