Former NSA contractor and privacy advocate Edward Snowden spoke at the Redacted meeting of the Near protocol in Bangkok, Thailand, emphasizing the importance of decentralization and criticizing the impact of venture capital on blockchain projects. Using Solana as an example, Snowden stated that it is 'born imprisoned' due to the large amount of venture capital funding it has received. He believes that while Solana is developing rapidly, the excessive transfer of ownership to investors could hinder its independent operation. Snowden stated that Solana still has development potential in the future, but currently faces challenges in decentralization. Regarding AI-driven surveillance, Snowden warned that governments and corporations might use AI to process vast amounts of personal data in real-time for large-scale data analysis. He urged the use of open-source tools to combat centralized control, stating that the open-source model is 'empowering'. Snowden also mentioned that Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) previously used its 15 million Uniswap tokens to veto a proposal to deploy Uniswap v3 on the BNB Chain, which he believes highlights the control large centralized stakeholders have over decentralized projects.
