According to Cointelegraph, Edward Snowden emphasized the significance of Bitcoin in a world facing increasing government surveillance and restrictive policies during a recent conference in Amsterdam. The event, held in the city's Westerpark neighborhood, attracted thousands of attendees seeking the latest news and insights in the Bitcoin industry. Snowden, who delivered a live virtual address, criticized the focus on Bitcoin's value over its importance as a decentralized tool. He also discussed Bitcoin's role in his rebellion against the United States government and its surveillance of citizens, as well as the cryptocurrency's growing prominence leading to opposition from governments, lawmakers, and legacy financial institutions. Snowden highlighted Bitcoin's privacy problem and the emergence of obfuscation tools like CoinJoin and mixers as important but also indicative of the pressure facing the decentralized protocol.