# S17 E20: Talking Privacy with Amir Taaki, Harry Halpin & Christopher Cialone

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/bitcoin-takeover-podcast-724392/s17-e20-talking-privacy-with-amir-taaki-harry-halpin-christopher-cialone
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/bitcoin-takeover-podcast-724392/s17-e20-talking-privacy-with-amir-taaki-harry-halpin-christopher-cialone.md
Podcast: [Bitcoin Takeover Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/bitcoin-takeover-podcast-724392)
Published: 2026-04-23T22:20:00+00:00
Episode link: https://bitcoin-takeover.com/audio/?name=2026-04-24_s17_e20_talking_privacy_with_amir_taaki_harry_halpin_christopher_cialone.mp3
Audio file: https://bitcoin-takeover.com/audio/media/2026-04-24_s17_e20_talking_privacy_with_amir_taaki_harry_halpin_christopher_cialone.mp3
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Duration seconds: 9732

## Resource

Amir Taaki is one of the first Bitcoin developers to join the project and today he stands out as one of the most prominent cypherpunks and privacy advocates. Currently, he is working towards building DarkFi. Harry Halpin is one of the most prominent privacy advocates in academia, and an entrepreneur who focuses on maximizing human rights. Today, he is the CEO of Nym and he works towards normalizing privacy. Christopher Cialone is a big privacy advocate whose current focus is to free the Tornado Cash devs (especially Roman Storm) and the Samourai Wallet devs. In this episode, we talk about everything privacy. Time stamps: 00:01:13 –Introducing Amir Zaki, Harry Halpin, Christopher Cialone 00:02:17 – Harry Halpin discusses Palantir CEO Alex Karp's advocacy for a corporate-state surveillance apparatus and automated AI weapons to ensure US dominance. 00:05:05 – Halpin critiques the Silicon Valley mindset that glorifies war and surveillance, contrasting it with the harsh realities of authoritarian regimes. 00:07:30 – Why programmers should build privacy-enhancing technologies to resist the rise of authoritarianism and mass surveillance. 00:18:26 – Vlad questions whether the US must abandon ethics to compete technologically with authoritarian states like China. 00:19:37 – Harry Halpin argues that true technological innovation comes from freedom and decentralization, not by copying authoritarian control systems. 00:24:34 – Christopher Cialone discusses the Tornado Cash case, where the government is attempting to redefine privacy and stifle innovation. 00:26:14 – Christopher Cialone expresses frustration over the developer community's general silence on legal battles that threaten their freedom to build. 00:33:58 – Neither political party will save crypto developers, citing ong…

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