A Crypto VC Known As “SEVEN” Is Building An Uncensored Internet

[ad_1]

Dr Steven Waterhouse co-founded Orchid Labs to provide the world with an uncensored internet. The decentralized VPN service has raised over $ 40 million from VCs like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz. Waterhouse explains to Insider how Orchid plays a crucial role in digital privacy.

Last year, Dr Steve Waterhouse, founder of crypto VC and startup, wrote: “In 2021, battles over the future of online privacy – and therefore over the nature of the Internet itself – will occur. .

He was right: the pandemic forced the world to go online and sparked new outrage over tech companies collecting personal data. In September 2021, a New York Times headline said, “The battle for digital privacy is reshaping the Internet.” And next month, China’s new data privacy laws will take effect.

Waterhouse, better known in crypto circles as “SEVEN”, has a knack for knowing what’s to come. He was a founding member of one of the first self-proclaimed cryptocurrency funds in the United States, Pantera Capital, and has focused on digital privacy for years.

A 23-year-old analyst at Underscore VC has generated over $ 150,000 worth of mining altcoins. Here is how he did it.

His latest Orchid Labs project provides what he describes as a decentralized virtual private network (VPN). It is designed to protect the privacy of users of data collection sites and give them access to an uncensored Internet, such as websites blocked by a corporate or ISP firewall, or by a government regime. While many flashy crypto projects are expensive (it’ll cost you hundreds to play Axie Infinity and thousands to join the busiest crypto club), Orchid costs $ 1 for most uses.

Waterhouse co-founded the company in 2017 alongside notable people: Brian Fox, a key programmer who helped usher in the open source movement; Gustav Simonsson, who helped launch Ethereum; Stephen Bell, general partner at BV2 Ventures; and Jay Freeman, a software engineer known for creating iPhone jailbreak software.

Orchid earned the Silicon Valley Seal of Approval in 2018 with investments from companies like Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, and Sequoia Capital. The company raised a total of $ 43 million, according to PitchBook, although at one point it tried to raise $ 125 million.

Uncensored internet access

Orchid Labs isn’t the only free or low-cost privacy-focused VPN available. But Orchid is different, says Waterhouse, because it’s not hosted on a single cloud provider and instead uses a network of them. It also allows users to pay with cryptocurrencies.

“VPN companies are themselves centralized checkpoints. They are subject to coercion, they are themselves subject to hacking, they are subject to their own economic interests, to sell your data,” he said. declared.

One use case concerns people living under authoritarian regimes. An anonymous Nigerian user said in an emailed statement to Insider that he started using Orchid due to increased Nigerian government censorship following the #EndSARS protest against police brutality that took place a year ago. He did not reveal his identity for security reasons but was verified as a user by the company.

“IP masking has become a new norm in this part of the world,” he wrote, adding that he uses Orchid to serve blocked content.

However, Orchid is blocked in some countries that practice censorship. “You cannot access our websites in China,” Waterhouse said. “But two-thirds of the internet is too, so I don’t feel that special.”

Orchid offers a workaround where it is prohibited that allows users to install binary code on their Android devices. The idea is to create a service where governments cannot influence access at all.

“If you can create more open platforms like this then maybe it doesn’t matter if you get banned,” Waterhouse said. “Even if someone can’t download it in a special scheme, maybe someone locally can create the interface that allows them to access this thing.”

[ad_2]