David Chaum, the cryptographer credited with starting the cypherpunk movement in the 1980s and launching eCash, an early form of virtual money in the 1990s, thinks people are taking financial privacy a lot more seriously these days.“Consumers are starting to lose faith in online services and privacy protections they hoped were in place,” he told the audience at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas on October 23, 2018. Pointing to recent failings of social media sites Facebook and hinting that far better privacy options are around the corner, he stated: “The cat is out of the bag.” In a fireside chat with Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin, a cryptocurrency based on Bitcoin’s code, Chaum spoke broadly about the future of digital privacy. He also took the opportunity to promote his latest venture: a blockchain-based payment and messaging system dubbed “Elixxir,” which Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen is backing. David Bailey, CEO of BTC Media, moderated the talk. People are more conscience of privacy because the scope of privacy has changed, Chaum said. In the past, the focus was on how to shield personal information; now the concern is more around the vast accumulation of metadata. “People are more aware of the dangers of being tracked,” he said. Switching the topic to his own project, the father of online anonymity, who is known for his ambitious projects in the past, boasted that Elixxir is capable of processing hundr...
