Swiss blockchain startup launches privacy testnet to resist NSA-level surveillance 🚨 This article is 5 years old...
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Swiss blockchain startup launches privacy testnet to resist NSA-level surveillance
2 min read
Updated: Apr. 9, 2020 at 10:45 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Nym Technologies, a Swiss blockchain startup, has invited users to install mix-nodes and test the company’s privacy-preserving mixnet. According to a press release shared with CryptoSlate, Nym’s mixnet will be able to protect users’ privacy from NSA-level adversaries and resist mass surveillance.
Advanced mixnet testing now available to all users
A blockchain startup based in Switzerland has been working on a mixnet that provides advanced privacy-infrastructure for internet users and has now made the testnet available to all users. Nym Technologies has invited users to run mix-nodes in their mixnet in order to “collectively solve the world’s privacy crisis.”
The company said that it launched its testnet at a critical time for privacy, as the increased government surveillance due to the coronavirus pandemic has weaponized technologies such as artificial intelligence and mobile phone tracking.
Nym’s mixnet will enable users of privacy-enhanced services to integrate into the network with minimal changes to their code, similar to the way Tor works. The testnet is currently in its first phase, which is being opened to the public to join. The second phase will see the mixnet being decentralized via validators, while the third and final phase will introduce rewards for mixing.
Nym mixnet endorsed by industry leaders
Harry Halpin, the co-founder, and CEO of Nym Technologies, highlighted the importance of protecting privacy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Nym’s mixnet resists a global passive adversary like the NSA that can record all the traffic coming in and out of a network,” he explained.
This isn’t the first time users have been able to access Nym—since December last year, the testnet has been used by a select group of individual users and companies. Some of those companies include Blockstream, Monero, and the Electric Coin Company (ECC), which created the privacy-focused ZCash cryptocurrency.
David Campbell, the COO of ECC noted:
“We at ECC believe that network privacy is an essential layer of defense for cryptocurrency users.”
A spokesperson for the Monero Community agreed with the statement, saying that they believed in the fundamental priorities Nym is aiming to solve with the mixnet.
Those interested can try out Nym’s privacy testnet here.
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