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'''Amir Taaki''' ({{lang-fa|امیر تاکی}}; born 6 February 1988) is a British-Iranian anarchist revolutionary, [[hacktivist]], and [[programmer]] who is known for his leading role in the [[bitcoin]] project, and for pioneering many [[Open-source software|open source]] projects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Colao |first=J.J. |title=Amir Taaki, 25 - In Photos: 2014 30 under 30: Technology |url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/elld45eemkm/amir-taaki-25/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109072551/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/elld45eemkm/amir-taaki-25/ |archive-date=9 January 2014 |website=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ball |first=James |date=20 April 2012 |title=Hacktivists in the frontline battle for the internet |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/20/hacktivists-battle-internet |access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref> Forbes listed Taaki in their [[Forbes 30 Under 30|30 Under 30]] listing of 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Forbes 30 Under 30 |url=https://www.forbes.com/special-report/2014/30-under-30/technology.html |website=Forbes |access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/meet-the-worlds-next-billionaires--from-mashables-pete-cashmore-to-bitcoin-renegade-amir-taaki-9042710.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107154641/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/meet-the-worlds-next-billionaires--from-mashables-pete-cashmore-to-bitcoin-renegade-amir-taaki-9042710.html |archive-date=2014-01-07 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Meet the world's next billionaires - from Mashable's Pete Cashmore to Bitcoin renegade Amir Taaki|work=The Independent|date=7 January 2014 }}</ref> Driven by the political philosophy of the [[Rojava]] revolution, Taaki traveled to Syria, served in the YPG military, and worked in Rojava's civil society on various economic projects for a year and a half.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/tech-enigma-amir-taaki-on-forbes-and-fighting-isis-a3509096.html|title=Tech enigma Amir Taaki on Forbes and fighting Isis in Syria|author=Susannah Butter|work=Standard.co.uk|date=6 April 2017 }}</ref>
'''Amir Taaki''' ({{lang-fa|امیر تاکی}}; born 6 February 1988) is a British-Iranian anarchist revolutionary, [[hacktivist]], and [[programmer]] who is known for his leading role in the [[Bitcoin]] project, and for pioneering many [[Open-source software|open source]] projects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Colao |first=J.J. |title=Amir Taaki, 25 - In Photos: 2014 30 under 30: Technology |url=https://www.forbes.com/pictures/elld45eemkm/amir-taaki-25/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109072551/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/elld45eemkm/amir-taaki-25/ |archive-date=9 January 2014 |website=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ball |first=James |date=20 April 2012 |title=Hacktivists in the frontline battle for the internet |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/20/hacktivists-battle-internet |access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref> Forbes listed Taaki in their [[Forbes 30 Under 30|30 Under 30]] listing of 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=Forbes 30 Under 30 |url=https://www.forbes.com/special-report/2014/30-under-30/technology.html |website=Forbes |access-date=4 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/meet-the-worlds-next-billionaires--from-mashables-pete-cashmore-to-bitcoin-renegade-amir-taaki-9042710.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107154641/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/meet-the-worlds-next-billionaires--from-mashables-pete-cashmore-to-bitcoin-renegade-amir-taaki-9042710.html |archive-date=2014-01-07 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Meet the world's next billionaires - from Mashable's Pete Cashmore to Bitcoin renegade Amir Taaki|work=The Independent|date=7 January 2014 }}</ref> Driven by the political philosophy of the [[Rojava]] revolution, Taaki traveled to Syria, served in the YPG military, and worked in Rojava's civil society on various economic projects for a year and a half.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/tech-enigma-amir-taaki-on-forbes-and-fighting-isis-a3509096.html|title=Tech enigma Amir Taaki on Forbes and fighting Isis in Syria|author=Susannah Butter|work=Standard.co.uk|date=6 April 2017 }}</ref>


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Line 37: Line 37:
In 2012, Taaki organized the first Bitcoin conference in London.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://newint.org/features/2012/12/01/open-source-digital-freedom-keynote |title=Internet showdown: Why digital freedom matters to us all |last=Healy |first=Hazel |work=New Internationalist |date = 1 December 2012 |access-date =16 August 2022 |location=London}}</ref>
In 2012, Taaki organized the first Bitcoin conference in London.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://newint.org/features/2012/12/01/open-source-digital-freedom-keynote |title=Internet showdown: Why digital freedom matters to us all |last=Healy |first=Hazel |work=New Internationalist |date = 1 December 2012 |access-date =16 August 2022 |location=London}}</ref>


In 2014, together with [[Cody Wilson]], he launched the [[Dark Wallet]] project after a crowdfunding run on [[IndieGoGo]] which raised over $50,000.<ref name="NYR">{{cite magazine|last=Del Castillo|first=Michael|title=Dark Wallet: A Radical Way to Bitcoin|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/09/dark-wallet-bitcoin.html|magazine=The New Yorker|date=24 September 2013|access-date=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="DWF1">{{cite web|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|title=Dark Wallet Aims To Be The Anarchist's Bitcoin App of Choice|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/10/31/darkwallet-aims-to-be-the-anarchists-bitcoin-app-of-choice/|work=Forbes Online|date=31 October 2013|access-date=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="DWW1">{{cite magazine|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|title='Dark Wallet' Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/04/dark-wallet/|magazine=Wired|date=29 April 2014|access-date=15 May 2014}}</ref> Taaki, along with other developers from Airbitz, a bitcoin software company, created a prototype for a decentralised marketplace called "DarkMarket" in 2014, at a hackathon in Toronto, which was forked into the [[OpenBazaar]] project.<ref name=wired-darkmarket-prototype>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2014/04/darkmarket | title = Inside the 'DarkMarket' Prototype, a Silk Road the FBI Can Never Seize | last = Greenberg | first = Andy | magazine = [[Wired (website)|Wired]] | date = 24 April 2014 | access-date = 23 August 2014}}</ref>
In 2014, together with [[Cody Wilson]], he launched the [[Dark Wallet]] project after a crowdfunding run on [[IndieGoGo]] which raised over $50,000.<ref name="NYR">{{cite magazine|last=Del Castillo|first=Michael|title=Dark Wallet: A Radical Way to Bitcoin|url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/09/dark-wallet-bitcoin.html|magazine=The New Yorker|date=24 September 2013|access-date=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="DWF1">{{cite web|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|title=Dark Wallet Aims To Be The Anarchist's Bitcoin App of Choice|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/10/31/darkwallet-aims-to-be-the-anarchists-bitcoin-app-of-choice/|work=Forbes Online|date=31 October 2013|access-date=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="DWW1">{{cite magazine|last=Greenberg|first=Andy|title='Dark Wallet' Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/04/dark-wallet/|magazine=Wired|date=29 April 2014|access-date=15 May 2014}}</ref> Taaki, along with other developers from Airbitz, a Bitcoin software company, created a prototype for a decentralised marketplace called "DarkMarket" in 2014, at a hackathon in Toronto, which was forked into the [[OpenBazaar]] project.<ref name=wired-darkmarket-prototype>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2014/04/darkmarket | title = Inside the 'DarkMarket' Prototype, a Silk Road the FBI Can Never Seize | last = Greenberg | first = Andy | magazine = [[Wired (website)|Wired]] | date = 24 April 2014 | access-date = 23 August 2014}}</ref>


As of 2013, he resided in an anarchist squat in the former anti-[[G7 (forum)|G8]] HQ building in London, England.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siddique|first1=Haroon|title=G8: riot police enter central London building occupied by protesters|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/g8-riot-police-building-protesters|access-date=8 July 2015|date=11 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Copestake|first1=Jen|title=Hiding currency in the Dark Wallet|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29283124|access-date=8 July 2015|date=19 September 2014}}</ref>
As of 2013, he resided in an anarchist squat in the former anti-[[G7 (forum)|G8]] HQ building in London, England.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Siddique|first1=Haroon|title=G8: riot police enter central London building occupied by protesters|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/11/g8-riot-police-building-protesters|access-date=8 July 2015|date=11 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Copestake|first1=Jen|title=Hiding currency in the Dark Wallet|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29283124|access-date=8 July 2015|date=19 September 2014}}</ref>

Revision as of 23:43, 25 March 2024

Amir Taaki
Amir Taaki in Bratislava, 2012
Taaki in Bratislava, 2012
Born (1988-02-06) 6 February 1988 (age 36)
London, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
OccupationProgrammer
Military career
AllegianceRojava
Service / branchYPG
Years of service2015
Battles / warsSyrian Civil War

Amir Taaki (Template:Lang-fa; born 6 February 1988) is a British-Iranian anarchist revolutionary, hacktivist, and programmer who is known for his leading role in the Bitcoin project, and for pioneering many open source projects.[1][2] Forbes listed Taaki in their 30 Under 30 listing of 2014.[3][4] Driven by the political philosophy of the Rojava revolution, Taaki traveled to Syria, served in the YPG military, and worked in Rojava's civil society on various economic projects for a year and a half.[5]

Biography

Amir Taaki was born 6 February 1988[6] in London, the eldest of three children of a Scottish-English[7] mother and an Iranian father who is a property developer. Taaki grew up in nearby Kent.[8] From an early age Taaki took an interest in computer technology, teaching himself computer programming.[9]

After briefly attending two British universities,[7] Taaki gravitated to the free software movement. Taaki assisted in the creation of SDL Collide, an extension of Simple DirectMedia Layer, an open source library used by video game developers.[10]

In 2009 and 2010, Taaki made his living as a professional poker player.[9] His experience with online gambling attracted him to the Bitcoin project.[11] At one point, he was listed among Bitcoin's main developers.[12] He founded the first UK Bitcoin exchange, "Britcoin", which was succeeded in 2011 by a new British exchange called Intersango, in which he was a principal developer.[13][8] Intersango has since closed.[14]

In 2012, Taaki organized the first Bitcoin conference in London.[15]

In 2014, together with Cody Wilson, he launched the Dark Wallet project after a crowdfunding run on IndieGoGo which raised over $50,000.[16][17][18] Taaki, along with other developers from Airbitz, a Bitcoin software company, created a prototype for a decentralised marketplace called "DarkMarket" in 2014, at a hackathon in Toronto, which was forked into the OpenBazaar project.[19]

As of 2013, he resided in an anarchist squat in the former anti-G8 HQ building in London, England.[20][21]

In 2015, Taaki went to Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) to offer his skills to the revolution and served the YPG military.[22] He had no training but spent three and a half months in the YPG military fighting on the front. He was then discharged and worked in the civil society for over a year on various projects for Rojava's economics committee.

In February 2018, Taaki created a group in Catalonia dedicated to leveraging blockchain technology to help national liberation causes such as the Catalan independence movement.[23]

In 2023, Politico reported that Taaki was working on an anarchist project called DarkFi that aimed to allow people to form organizations that collectively raise and distribute money in complete secrecy.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ Colao, J.J. "Amir Taaki, 25 - In Photos: 2014 30 under 30: Technology". Forbes. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014.
  2. ^ Ball, James (20 April 2012). "Hacktivists in the frontline battle for the internet". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  3. ^ "Forbes 30 Under 30". Forbes. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Meet the world's next billionaires - from Mashable's Pete Cashmore to Bitcoin renegade Amir Taaki". The Independent. 7 January 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014.
  5. ^ Susannah Butter (6 April 2017). "Tech enigma Amir Taaki on Forbes and fighting Isis in Syria". Standard.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Amir Taaki". Companies House. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b Herrmann, Joshi (29 January 2014). "Silicon Roundabout's not for him: meet super-hacker, master coder and Bitcoin boy Amir Taaki in his Hackney squat". Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  8. ^ a b Bartlett, Jamie (2015). The dark net : inside the digital underworld. Brooklyn. ISBN 978-1-61219-489-9. OCLC 900594552.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ a b "Speakers 2011," 11th International EPCA Summit, European Payments Consulting Association, www.epcaconference.com/ Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  10. ^ "SDL_Collide". SourceForge. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  11. ^ James Ball, "Bitcoins: how do they work?" The Guardian, 22 June 2011.
  12. ^ Herrmann, Joshi (10 July 2015). "The Anarchist Hacker Bitcoin Would Rather Not Talk About". Vice. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  13. ^ "About Us: Personal Statements," Intersango, britcoin.co.uk
  14. ^ "Cryptoanarchists pull trigger on fight over future of Bitcoin". Financial Times. 31 October 2013.
  15. ^ Healy, Hazel (1 December 2012). "Internet showdown: Why digital freedom matters to us all". New Internationalist. London. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  16. ^ Del Castillo, Michael (24 September 2013). "Dark Wallet: A Radical Way to Bitcoin". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  17. ^ Greenberg, Andy (31 October 2013). "Dark Wallet Aims To Be The Anarchist's Bitcoin App of Choice". Forbes Online. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  18. ^ Greenberg, Andy (29 April 2014). "'Dark Wallet' Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever". Wired. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  19. ^ Greenberg, Andy (24 April 2014). "Inside the 'DarkMarket' Prototype, a Silk Road the FBI Can Never Seize". Wired. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  20. ^ Siddique, Haroon (11 June 2013). "G8: riot police enter central London building occupied by protesters". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  21. ^ Copestake, Jen (19 September 2014). "Hiding currency in the Dark Wallet". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  22. ^ Greenberg, Andy (29 March 2017). "How an anarchist Bitcoin coder found himself fighting ISIS in Syria". Wired. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  23. ^ Volpicelli, Gian (6 March 2018). "Amir fought Isis in Syria, now he's enlisting an army of hacker monks to save bitcoin from itself". wired. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  24. ^ Schreckinger, Ben (February 2, 2023) "A new crypto threat to government launches." Politico. (Retrieved March 6, 2023).
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