When we started this project, I do not believe a single person could tell you how much this project would impact our lives. Some of the fundamental principles we stand for have taken on so much more meaning with the events happening in the world around us and also because of our own experiences through this journey. We all feel we stand united behind a set of ideals and this document sets to highlight not only our ideals but what we think we can do about it. As you read this, it is important for those not familiar with our work to realize that the Swap project is a fair, open-source, and community-based project that is a private crypto coin.
I want to set the stage as to the importance of our work by highlighting something that could be the norm here very shortly. Imagine a world where cash has been deleted. All financial transactions are done digitally, through some form of blockchain mechanism. Imagine though that there is no privacy in how this is done. Every single transaction you make is recorded forever by those who control the mechanism. Your ability to transact is not controllable by you but instead is controlled by governments or mega-corporations. Imagine being a persona non grata. Have you thought about how many ways the powers that be would have to punish you for your dissent and force your compliance? They could literally make it so that you can’t do anything in this world, including feed yourself or pay your rent. This is a frightening future, one that is so much closer than you might think.
As I write this, my forty-second birthday is right around the corner. I was born into an analog world that rapidly began to change to a digital one. My generation, Gen X, is probably the last full generation to experience life as it was before computers, even if it was just for a brief moment of time. We have watched the world around us change as the digital age has invaded every aspect of our lives. Gen X is not special; we are simply at the right place at the right time to see the most important transition humans will make in history. Sure, the invention of fire helped revolutionize our lives. The wheel brought massive improvements in transportation. Domesticating animals and learning to cultivate fields of crops allowed us to settle down and reshaped our nomadic ways. However, none of this compares to the changes that the digital age brings us. This technology has “god-like” properties for those who wield and control it.
The digital age has brought so many innovations and technology is increasing at an incredible pace. In fact, we are currently doubling our knowledge about every twelve months. At the turn of the 20th century, it took almost a century to double the collective knowledge of humanity. IBM has forecast that the Internet of Things will eventually cause the doubling of our knowledge to happen every twelve hours! While these things are exceptional, there is an underlying fundamental problem.
At this point, I’m pretty sure everyone knows who Facebook is and just about everyone has probably heard of their plans to launch their own cryptocurrency, called Libra. Many are cheering this because this helps spread awareness and should help adoption, something that crypto in general needs greatly. I believe many are unaware of the dangers that lurk beneath the surface and to quote Admiral Ackbar, “It’s a trap!”. Why is this and any other mega-corporation or state-sponsored cryptocurrency a trap and what dangers lurk beneath? I will endeavor to explain.
Privacy is a fundamental right. Privacy is also one of the core tenants of freedom. They are so intertwined that it is impossible to have freedom without privacy. The moment you take away your right to privacy is the moment you have lost your real freedom, whether you know it or not. Facebook is a huge corporation that offers free services to its billions of users. The current statistic is that there are over 2.41 billion Facebook users. Can you imagine the infrastructure and its related costs to support so many users? How can this be provided for free? Well, it’s not. The truth of the matter is that WE are Facebook’s product. Everything we do on Facebook is tracked, aggregated and sold to advertisers. You willingly give up all your privacy to join Facebook. They track so many metrics about you that they know more about you than you know yourself. They know who you talk to, who you have problems with, what your beliefs are, what you like to buy; ultimately, they know as much as you share, and people share tremendous amounts of private information.
Now Facebook wants to introduce its own cryptocurrency, with its stated goal of improving the user experience. What? Lies. If Facebook can convince its users to use its “stable coin”, you have handed them their biggest coup d’état ever. You will have handed over your buying habits, anything you’ve ever bought, tracked, aggregated and resold. Can you even comprehend how much room for abuse of this metric exists? Imagine when it’s not just Facebook doing it, but our governments in the name of “terrorism prevention”.
Swap was founded on a principle of privacy. In the eight-plus months since our launch, things have occurred that make me realize how important privacy is. I have been blessed to experience certain freedoms in my life, along with opposing experiences to understand what a lack of freedom is. Those freedoms I have had the pleasure to experience are under attack and the entire team feels a calling to push forth the ideals of privacy and freedom. We need to become analogous to a drop of food coloring that has just hit the water’s surface. The visual cues of our impact have not yet been seen in full. As we disseminate our essence throughout this stratum we know called life, we have the power to color this medium. Things don’t have to be painted the way the future currently looks if we believe that we have the power to effect change.
Swap is successful not because of the underpinning technology that we have created even though the technology is a feat in and of itself. It is successful because we believe in something, a few fundamental rights that are crucial and imperative for our continued ability to live our lives as we see fit. We are at a crucial moment in time where the decisions of the next few years are going to shape the rest of our future, forever. I am a father, and I am afraid for the world my children will grow up in. I am afraid of the tyranny which will oppress the innocent. I fear that the very institutions that were built to safeguard the people will become the very instruments of their oppression. I have wept as I struggle through the emotions brought on by the responsibilities that seem to be settling upon our shoulders.
There is a maxim that has been said for many years: “ Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. I fear we are at a tipping point in society where the ideals that were proposed and adopted over two hundred years ago have been forgotten. Freedom and privacy are under attack. The powers that be are attempting to destroy these two fundamental rights so that they may usurp control of humanity forever.
Those who pull the strings on the grand stage fear that which they cannot control. The technology we are involved in has the power to remake the entire dynamic of our social stratum. It will take power away from those who have hoarded it like whales and redistribute it to everyone, equal to their ability, not just simply because of the station of their birth or what family they married into.
As you can probably tell, my writing and message have changed. The events of the last month have been a whirlwind of emotions for everyone on the team. We faced the abyss and together we have collectively stood up to face the challenge. No one here could ever hope to accomplish any of this on their own. We are all broken in one manner or another. However, we all have great inner strength and some areas of expertise to contribute. By standing united we have formed an impressive vanguard that is set to tackle what could be the most important change in our world, not only for the immediate future but forever.
Decentralization is a word that most do not understand. Sure, they know the definition, but I feel many have failed to grasp how this word is a core tenant of freedom. Centralization is literally to consolidate. It is what we face in everything we know today. Businesses are constantly being bought by bigger businesses and the results of the last few decades are mega-corporations who literally have a stranglehold on their industries. Governments continue to grow, exercising rights it has assumed and performs the will of lobbyists without our fair vote to punitively force their opinions on its citizens. Eventually, the establishment of a one world order is inevitable as consolidation simply leads to total centralization of power in the hands of a select few. Later I will delve more into the topic of decentralization as it is so important that it deserves its own piece.
There is only one way in which those who have power can truly control us and it is by controlling the very lifeblood of the economy. They control our ability to transact. There is so much data out there showing the vastly growing inequalities as the elite simply gain more while the average person continues to lose ground. The members of this team are a bunch of nobodies. We are a ragtag group of cyberpunks who have all faced our own demons and challenges throughout life. Our experiences have shaped us and formed our world view. We are working people, not born into riches, and we are accustomed to finding our own way. We ARE the people and we are FOR the people.
Mining is our form of work. When we started this project none of us could ever dream to think it would lead us to where we are today. We simply thought we were trying to make a fair coin because we were tired of always getting screwed for our efforts. We implemented our technology in a way to promote the principles of decentralization. From implementing the parameters that control how our blockchain works, to developing tools to allow people to free themselves from mining pools, we have tried to make things fair. There has been simply too much bullshit surrounding this technology because of greed, and people are failing to grasp the importance of everything happening around them.
The time has come for action. We cannot in good faith sit idle and watch the hands of time turn by as the rights of the common man is crushed. Every single member of this team feels that there is a mission to which we are called. It cannot be a coincidence that we all were pulled together as too many pieces of the puzzle have fallen right into place, just as they needed to. Even our lead developer’s return from the issues he has faced has been exactly at the time we needed it. We are nobodies, I want to reiterate that. We are not special; we are just average folk who are just on the cutting edge of technology. If you told me a few months ago this project was going to touch the deepest part of my soul I would have called you a liar. The truth is it this project has changed each and every one of us in ways we still do not fully understand, however, we have accepted the challenge and face it with determination.
I believe that this issue is so paramount we MUST not neglect it and we MUST attempt to swing the scales into the favor of the common man. HOWEVER, I will put one truth out there. WE CANNOT DO THIS ALONE. We are prepared to pick up the mantle of responsibility and be the vanguard pushing these ideals forward. We simply and quite unequivocally need everyone’s support. We need community ambassadors who are willing to carry our message to their people. I am actively looking for people who are willing to support this noble cause. Already many have signed up to help support us. We thank you. We still need lots of good men and women who believe that this cause is just and that taking this message far and wide is not an option, it is a necessity and our personal freedoms depend on it. We need translators who will take the words I write that are impressed upon me so that the message is not lost in translation. There are so many ways to help and we are grateful for all who do.
I want to close this by saying the experiences of the last few months have caused remarkable changes in the feelings and sentiments of the team. While we still have much to figure out, we have become a finely meshed gearset working in harmony with each other as it should be. I really hate to use the concept of destiny for what we must do, but something is calling us to stand up. A famous quote says “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” I know in the bottom of my heart that I am a good man. I cannot sit idle and watch the world I have grown up in change for the worst. We must all make an effort to stem the tide so that our children may live in freedom. Freedom is the core of our message, privacy is just the way to attain it.
