In his Manifesto of a CypherpunkEric Hughes declared in 1993: “cypherpunks write code”.
“In the electronic age, the right to privacy is an essential element of a free and open society. Privacy means being free to reveal oneself to the world selectively. Cypherpunks champion privacy through cryptography, digital signatures, and e-money. »
Tremplin.io interviewed one of them, in the heart of Bohemia. Lea Petrasova is co-founder and CEO of Vexlan application allowing you to exchange bitcoins without KYC, incognito.
The other co-founders are Pavol Rusnak and Marek Palatinus, the inventors of the wallet Trezor.
Hello Léa, what does “Vexl” mean?
“Vexl” is a play on words from the German “wechseln” which means “to exchange”.
Its origin dates back to the times of the USSR, when each Soviet satellite state had its network of merchants for various rare goods from the West, mainly foreign exchange.
In Czechoslovakia, they often frequented parking lots near the German border. Hence the nickname “vekslaks”. The name “Vexl” pays homage to those actors in the underground economy who traded high-quality goods or currencies.
Vexl allows you to do the same thing, but using bitcoin.
We’ll talk totalitarianism in a minute, but first, Vexl. Which feature are you most proud of?
If we put aside the superb interface, I would say our reputation system. Vexl allows you to interact within your social circle while respecting your privacy. We have achieved the feat of integrating the reputation we have in the real world into an application!
This reputation being impossible to manipulate, everyone is encouraged to behave well during the transaction.
So we only see offers from our friends and their friends. Two circles. Correct ? How it works ?
Yes, you can see offers from your phone contacts and their contacts.
We spent a lot of time thinking about how to create such a social network. Realizing that it was extremely difficult to create a network from scratch, we relied on a network that already existed. But which one to choose?
We sought a network that was universally distributed and used throughout the world. Knowing that it was essential for our reputation system that the users were relatively close.
And also knowing that we needed a network that would not disappear anytime soon, present in the four corners of the world. Phone numbers turned out to be the obvious choice.
How does Vexl protect the privacy of its users?
We are fully aware of the risks associated with telephone numbers and that is why we have spent a lot of time mitigating them. And I am very proud of our solution.
For our part, in our “back-end”, the application is split into four parts isolated from each other. The first manages your account, the second your contact list, the third the offers and the fourth the conversations.
Each compartment operates independently. Information only converges once in your smartphone. This silo structure combined with asymmetric cryptography makes it technologically impossible for us to know what you are doing.
We don’t know what the offers contain, if you posted one, if you contacted anyone, or if a transaction took place.
It is therefore a free, encrypted and KYC-free application. What else sets you apart from your competitors like Hold Hold?
Vexl is purely peer to peer. No deposit is required to use it. There are no fees either. We are not a for-profit company, but rather a matchmaking app designed to protect the privacy of our users.
I also think our app is much more user-friendly. There is no photo. The user experience is truly a success. I always kept in mind when designing it that my aunt should be able to use it easily.
Vexl therefore never touches users’ bitcoins or euros. This should make it resistant to any regulatory threats. However, Apple removed it from the App Store. For what ?
We talked with Apple for months trying to guess what their problem was with Vexl. They said “the use of cash is clearly reckless.” We tried to explain that we’re actually safer and more private than Craigslist or Tinder, but they called our app “inappropriate for the App Store” before closing the conversation.
It’s up to you to see which answer is the most disturbing…
You chose not to manage repositories and to encourage users to meet in person. What is the best practices guide? Use the Lightning Network?
Yes. The app also offers the option of bank transfer, but we encourage users to meet in person to make new friends rather than leaving a digital trail.
As for the dating itself, it’s like Tinder. It’s better to meet rather than do everything online, and preferably in a public place, like a cafe.
However, check the reliability of the other person with your common contact in the event of large volumes exchanged. But once again, you only meet people from your own social network.
How many users do you have today? Where are you popular?
We’ve surpassed 9,600 users (and growing!). Of course, most of them come from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. But we are also seeing significant growth in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, mainly thanks to meetups. We are always happy to travel to meetups in person and provide advice to the organizers.
I hope that one of the organizers of the 28 meetups in France will give you an excuse to come to us. Let’s leave Vexl aside. What word comes to a cypherpunk’s mind when seeing this:
Dystopia.
Digital identities are being pushed all over the world. Why are the Bill Gates and Klaus Schwabs of this world trying to impose it on us?
I cannot and do not want to assess the motivations of the powerful. I am sure they are very diverse. I view these attempts at population control as systemic efforts to counter and diminish the independence of individuals that is reinforced by the rapid advancements in technology over the past two decades, bitcoin included.
Because that is exactly what it is: an attempt to regain and maintain control.
The official European account @EUDigitalID regularly tweets about the digital euro. It seems that digital identification will be part of this. What type of control could a CBDC give them?
I think the prevailing feeling today is that we have never been so free. We have the ability to travel almost anywhere, trade around the world, move and start from scratch, etc. But is it really that simple?
In fact, I think the level of surveillance and control over our daily lives and actions is unprecedented. The greatest danger lies in the way this control is sneakily introduced into our lives under the guise of progress, comfort and convenience. It is a subtle, hidden, but omnipresent phenomenon.
Money, or more precisely, prices, are a universal means of communication between people, cultures and societies. It is a universal language allowing us to quickly and efficiently exchange signals about what is important, requested and needed. These exchanges pave the way for experiences, innovations, creativity and discoveries that significantly improve and advance our lives.
This brings us to the main concern I have with CBDCs. If someone controls the money, they effectively have control over the aforementioned communications. Imagining such a future is incredibly alarming.
This is precisely why I consider Bitcoin, especially bitcoins that are not tied to a person’s identity, to be a revolutionary invention. It represents a form of money that no entity can control. It is the ultimate form of currency that provides us with the means to maintain our freedom to progress and evolve as humanity.
In short, we live in a golden technological cage which could transform into a 2.0 totalitarianism embodied by “social credit” systems. Bitcoin is our insurance against this nightmare. Is asymmetric cryptography our main weapon to defend our freedom?
Asymmetric cryptography plays an important role, primarily in our online communications. However, it is important not to overlook other technologies that do not immediately come to mind. These include technologies embedded in our daily lives, such as the information we allow our cell phones or internet browsers to track.
It is also worth considering actions as simple as paying in cash, hiding your name and address (if possible) or using a proxy service for online purchases. Have you ever wondered if it’s really necessary to enter your name and real address when ordering something online?
We really need to take the time to think about these digital traces we leave behind. In many cases you may not need to provide this information.
What is more concerning about the data we leave behind because of cookies, geolocation data or purchase histories?
For me, the most concerning aspect of the collection of our digital data is its indelibility. The Internet never forgets. We reveal forever what is in essence a historical database of our lives and personalities. We refuse to control who uses this data and for what purposes. And look around you, the world is changing so fast that we have no chance of guessing.
We could cite Cambridge Analytica, which used Facebook data to target undecided voters in the 2016 US election. What other dangerous and unethical uses should we fear?
Much has been said about how our data is – and can be – exploited in unethical ways. What we don’t address enough, in my opinion, is the fact that our children will be the first generation whose parents have given away (and made widely available) so much sensitive data.
Imagine being subject to social profiling, surveillance or cancel culture simply because of your connections to your family or friends’ profiles. This is an absolutely unprecedented level of population control. With the rapid development of AI, the future holds challenges that the early cypherpunks could not have even imagined in their time.
Thank you for taking the time for our readers Lea. A final book recommendation?
For those interested, I always recommend Paul Rosenberg’s books, like “Lodging of Wayfaring Men” or “Breaking Dawn.” These two works have profoundly influenced not only my personal life, but also my work. In particular, “Lodging” inspired me deeply during the development of Vexl.
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