Part 12/16:
A critical issue Andreas highlights is fungibility: each Bitcoin unit must be interchangeable without traceable taint. Currently, transaction histories can diminish fungibility, leading to blacklists or censorship of certain coins. Andreas advocates for privacy solutions—like CoinJoin or privacy-enhanced wallets—to embed anonymity at the protocol level, preserving the fungibility essential for a fair, open monetary system.
He compares this to the early internet, which faced fears of illicit use; just as encryption standards like SSL became ubiquitous, privacy-enhanced Bitcoin efforts aim to normalize anonymous transactions for all users—not just criminals.