Balaji Srinivasan: Zcash or Communism, Privacy Essential in 2026
Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan published a video on Feb. 18 declaring the choice is clear: Zcash or communism. He argued that AI-powered surveillance makes privacy coins essential because any unencrypted data can now be weaponized by states or stalkers.
Former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan published a video on Feb. 18 declaring the choice is clear: Zcash or communism.
He argued that AI-powered surveillance makes privacy coins essential because any unencrypted data can now be weaponized by states or stalkers. Srinivasan said any scrap of information online can now be integrated and synthesized by AI models to form a dossier more complete than anything the Soviets could ever dream of. He cited Lenin's 1918 order to murder kulaks as an example of state violence enabled by identification.
Srinivasan said Zcash is what a lot of people wanted Bitcoin to be, acknowledging that Bitcoin's transparent blockchain failed to deliver the privacy features early adopters expected. He dismissed Lightning Network as a solution, noting it's been promised for 10 years with a hub-and-spoke topology that still lacks true privacy.
19-year-old Zcash researcher Arjun Khemani joined Srinivasan on the Never Say Podcast to make the generational case. Khemani said especially with AI being able to recognize where you are exactly, you can't have freedom without privacy.
Srinivasan said if you're under surveillance, you're not sovereign. When every move is being tracked, you don't have the advantage of surprise and can never have private deliberations. He concluded that Bitcoin and Zcash may coexist because Bitcoin is transparent and Zcash is private, suggesting this could be Zcash's moment with the Feb. 18 video released on the Never Say Podcast.
This article was written based on reporting from Bitcoinist.
