Raoul Pal: The Journey Man Surveillance States & The Fight for Financial Freedom
19 snips
Dec 4, 2025 Mert Mumtaz, an engineer and entrepreneur in the Solana and cryptography space, joins the discussion on the growing importance of privacy in cryptocurrency. They delve into the risks of transparent blockchains in a surveillance-heavy world, Zcash's unique zero-knowledge proof technology, and the potential coexistence of programmable and private money. Mert shares insights on Solana's scalability, the necessity of privacy for financial freedoms, and the implications of quantum threats. This conversation offers a crucial perspective on the future of privacy in the crypto landscape.
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Blockchains Turn Wallets Into Public Bank Statements
- Public blockchains make every account like a public bank statement visible to everyone.
- That transparency creates systemic risks as transactions become permanently auditable and linkable.
From Istanbul To Crypto Infrastructure
- Mert described moving from Istanbul to Canada, studying math and cryptography, then working at BlackBerry and banks before joining Coinbase.
- He left Coinbase to build Solana infrastructure and later founded Helios to solve engineering and scale problems.
Programmable Rails Versus Store-Of-Value
- Mert realized programmable money (Ethereum/Solana) and non-programmable money (Bitcoin) serve different roles.
- He uses a barbell approach: fast programmable rails plus a passive store-of-value.
