Former Coinbase General Counsel: When G7 Faces Economic Crisis, Tech Giants Can Scan Users' Hard Drives to Seize Digital Assets

Coinbase's former CTO Balaji Srinivasan recently appeared on the "Impact Theory" podcast hosted by renowned entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu, where he mentioned that tech giants may have the opportunity to confiscate users' digital assets under certain countries' mandates.

Former Coinbase General Counsel Worries Tech Giants Could Control Users' Digital Assets

According to a report by The Daily Hodl, Srinivasan speculated on the program that G7 countries could face an economic crisis in the future, and when the country's money runs out, they will begin to try to seize the assets of the people. At this point, the issue of whether digital assets not controlled by the state can be confiscated becomes crucial.

"If they can, it's like a historical fork, meaning the entire national digital assets are like CBDC central bank digital currencies; if not, it will lead to another outcome, meaning communities essentially own digital gold or cryptocurrencies, and through crowdfunding, acquire territory to form a new startup society, thereby forming a network country," Srinivasan said.

As for the possibility of asset confiscation, Srinivasan believes the biggest risk comes from Apple, Microsoft, and Google, as they have control over operating systems. For example, Apple can update its own products, Google can access users' cloud drives, and Microsoft can control the Windows system.

"In theory, if requested by the government, they could scan your hard drive and find the private key, then take away your digital assets. To me, this is one of the most important issues that could arise in the coming decades."