It is not a new thing that people are using pseudonyms or handles to mask their identities to protect themselves online. This has been an integral feature of the crypto sector since its introduction. Considering that we now have a mature market compared to the early days, the question of whether these practices are sound has become an issue again. This is especially true for projects which have become important in the mainstream and have quite a lot of clout.
That said, this question is being asked because an American media firm released information on the identities of two BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club) founders. The names are Greg Solano (handle -Gordon Goner) and Wylie Aranow (handle – Gargamel). The other two founders are still anonymous. This information was released by Kate Notopoulos who is an investigative journalist. She got the information by combing public records related to Yuga Labs – the company who created the BAYC collection.
Yuga Labs had said that it was conducting funding negotiations with a top VC firm in Silicon Valley and that its collection was valued at $5 billion. This information and the identity reveal took place on the same day. This type of information release is called “doxing” informally. Both founders made statements on Twitter about how important privacy for every individual is, especially in the context of new technologies like Web3.
Experts have differing opinions on this issue and that it is complex. There are reasons why people use pseudonyms to mask their identities in the digital world. The same world offers people opportunities to find information easily. There is a movement on to create more stringent rules to protect privacy. As the future unfolds and crypto gains mainstream acceptance, we will have to wait and see how people will deal with privacy and other related issues.
