Share this article
The Financial Aftermath of 9/11
As the world looks back on one of the worst tragedies of the 21st century, it’s important to remember 9/11′s long-lasting aftereffects: increased financial surveillance and exclusion.
Updated May 11, 2023, 6:38 p.m. Published Sep 13, 2021, 4:52 p.m.
9/11 was a human tragedy of staggering proportions.
This weekend America honored and mourned the first responders, office workers, airline passengers and others who lost their lives 20 years ago.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
As the world looks back on one of the most consequential events of the 21st century, it’s important to remember 9/11′s long-lasting aftereffects – a reminder that emergencies can make for knee-jerk policy and unforeseen consequences.
These lingering effects include the increased mass surveillance and tightening of anti-money laundering rules under the USA Patriot Act and the toll these measures took on privacy, financial inclusion and innovation.
The added compliance burden raised the barriers to entry in financial services, further discouraging competition and strengthening incumbents with scale to offset the costs.
Meanwhile, as Shoshanna Zuboff argues in her book “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” the national security establishment’s thirst for ever-more private data dovetailed with Silicon Valley’s desire to mine it for profit.
Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and the Web3 movement can all to varying degrees be seen as reactions to these historical forces that undermined the liberating promise of the early internet.
Below are some relevant reads, representing a wide variety of perspectives published in CoinDesk over the years.
How FinCEN Became a Honeypot for Sensitive Personal Data
The Crypto Community Must Use the Blockchain to Self-Police
Tucker Carlson Is Right About Financial Privacy
US National Security Advisor: Bitcoin Needs to Be Understood, Not Feared
No, Secretary Summers, Financial Privacy Is a Vital Freedom
A World Where Privacy and Saving Lives Can Coexist
State of Crypto: The US Government Keeps Mentioning Terrorism
‘They Starve’: The Ugly Side of the US’ KYC-AML Obsession
‘Radical Indifference’: How Surveillance Capitalism Conquered Our Lives
The Crypto-Surveillance Capitalism Connection
There’s a Bigger Scam Than Anything in Crypto, It’s Called KYC/AML
There’s a Huge Opportunity for Everyone in Crypto, It’s Called KYC/AML
Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Small Texas Lender Monet Joining Field of Crypto-Focused Banks
The bank is owned by billionaire Andy Beal, a major supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
Top Stories
