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== Biography ==
== Biography ==

=== Early years ===
Amir Taaki was born 6 February 1988<ref>{{cite web |title=Amir Taaki |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/sEU_7R7M4GXsOIcg6vWFrVMoE6Q/appointments |website=Companies House |accessdate=4 October 2018}}</ref> in London, the eldest of three children of a Scottish-English<ref name="standard1"/> mother and an Iranian father who is a property developer. From an early age Taaki took an interest in computer technology, [[autodidacticism|teaching himself]] [[computer programmer|computer programming]].<ref name=EPCA>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110326214259/http://www.epcaconference.com/index.php/2011/2011/speakers/%28offset%29/20 "Speakers 2011,"] 11th International EPCA Summit, European Payments Consulting Association, www.epcaconference.com/ Retrieved 11 October 2011.</ref>
Amir Taaki was born 6 February 1988<ref>{{cite web |title=Amir Taaki |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/sEU_7R7M4GXsOIcg6vWFrVMoE6Q/appointments |website=Companies House |accessdate=4 October 2018}}</ref> in London, the eldest of three children of a Scottish-English<ref name="standard1"/> mother and an Iranian father who is a property developer. From an early age Taaki took an interest in computer technology, [[autodidacticism|teaching himself]] [[computer programmer|computer programming]].<ref name=EPCA>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110326214259/http://www.epcaconference.com/index.php/2011/2011/speakers/%28offset%29/20 "Speakers 2011,"] 11th International EPCA Summit, European Payments Consulting Association, www.epcaconference.com/ Retrieved 11 October 2011.</ref>


=== Free software ===
After briefly attending two British universities,<ref name="standard1">{{cite news|last1=Herrmann|first1=Joshi|title=Silicon Roundabout's not for him: meet super-hacker, master coder and Bitcoin boy Amir Taaki in his Hackney squat|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/silicon-roundabouts-not-for-him-meet-superhacker-master-coder-and-bitcoin-boy-amir-taaki-in-his-hackney-squat-9093228.html|accessdate=30 June 2015|date=29 January 2014}}</ref> 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 (computing)|library]] used by video game developers.<ref>{{cite web |title=SDL_Collide |url=https://sourceforge.net/projects/sdl-collide/ |website=SourceForge |accessdate=4 October 2018 |date=8 Jan 2015}}</ref>
After briefly attending two British universities,<ref name="standard1">{{cite news|last1=Herrmann|first1=Joshi|title=Silicon Roundabout's not for him: meet super-hacker, master coder and Bitcoin boy Amir Taaki in his Hackney squat|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/silicon-roundabouts-not-for-him-meet-superhacker-master-coder-and-bitcoin-boy-amir-taaki-in-his-hackney-squat-9093228.html|accessdate=30 June 2015|date=29 January 2014}}</ref> 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 (computing)|library]] used by video game developers.<ref>{{cite web |title=SDL_Collide |url=https://sourceforge.net/projects/sdl-collide/ |website=SourceForge |accessdate=4 October 2018 |date=8 Jan 2015}}</ref>


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Taaki was a speaker at the 2007 [[Games Convention]] in [[Leipzig]].
Taaki was a speaker at the 2007 [[Games Convention]] in [[Leipzig]].


=== Bitcoin ===
In 2009 and 2010, Taaki made his living as a professional [[poker]] player.<ref name=EPCA /> His experience with [[online gambling]] attracted him to the [[bitcoin]] project.<ref>[[James Ball (journalist)|James Ball]], [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jun/22/bitcoins-how-do-they-work "Bitcoins: how do they work?"] ''The Guardian,'' 22 June 2011.</ref> He founded a UK bitcoin exchange called "Britcoin", which was succeeded in 2011 by a new British exchange called Intersango, in which he was a principal developer,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120426062717/https://intersango.com/about-us.php "About Us: Personal Statements,"] Intersango, britcoin.co.uk</ref> which was closed after their UK bank account was restricted following an investigation by [[Metro Bank (United Kingdom)|Metro Bank]].{{cn|date=May 2019}}
In 2009 and 2010, Taaki made his living as a professional [[poker]] player.<ref name=EPCA /> His experience with [[online gambling]] attracted him to the [[bitcoin]] project.<ref>[[James Ball (journalist)|James Ball]], [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jun/22/bitcoins-how-do-they-work "Bitcoins: how do they work?"] ''The Guardian,'' 22 June 2011.</ref> He founded a UK bitcoin exchange called "Britcoin", which was succeeded in 2011 by a new British exchange called Intersango, in which he was a principal developer,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120426062717/https://intersango.com/about-us.php "About Us: Personal Statements,"] Intersango, britcoin.co.uk</ref> which was closed after their UK bank account was restricted following an investigation by [[Metro Bank (United Kingdom)|Metro Bank]].{{cn|date=May 2019}}


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 web|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|work=The New Yorker|date=24 September 2013|accessdate=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|accessdate=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="DWW1">{{cite web|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/|work=Wired|date=29 April 2014|accessdate=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 | accessdate = 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 web|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|work=The New Yorker|date=24 September 2013|accessdate=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|accessdate=15 May 2014}}</ref><ref name="DWW1">{{cite web|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/|work=Wired|date=29 April 2014|accessdate=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 | accessdate = 23 August 2014}}</ref>


=== Activism ===
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|accessdate=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|accessdate=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|accessdate=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|accessdate=8 July 2015|date=19 September 2014}}</ref>


===Rojava===
In 2015, Taaki went to [[Rojava]] (Syrian Kurdistan) to offer his skills to the revolution, and served the YPG military.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenberg |first1=Andy |title=How an anarchist Bitcoin coder found himself fighting ISIS in Syria |url=https://www.wired.com/2017/03/anarchist-bitcoin-coder-found-fighting-isis-syria/ |website=Wired |accessdate=4 October 2018 |date=29 Mar 2017}}</ref> He had no training, but spent three and a half months in the [[People's Protection Units|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 2015, Taaki went to [[Rojava]] (Syrian Kurdistan) to offer his skills to the revolution, and served the YPG military.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenberg |first1=Andy |title=How an anarchist Bitcoin coder found himself fighting ISIS in Syria |url=https://www.wired.com/2017/03/anarchist-bitcoin-coder-found-fighting-isis-syria/ |website=Wired |accessdate=4 October 2018 |date=29 Mar 2017}}</ref> He had no training, but spent three and a half months in the [[People's Protection Units|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.


===Catalonia===
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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amir-taaki-dark-wallet-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-revolution-catalonia|title=Amir fought Isis in Syria, now he’s enlisting an army of hacker monks to save bitcoin from itself|website=wired|date=6 Mar 2018|last1=Volpicelli |first1=Gian |accessdate=3 Oct 2018}}</ref>
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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/amir-taaki-dark-wallet-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-revolution-catalonia|title=Amir fought Isis in Syria, now he’s enlisting an army of hacker monks to save bitcoin from itself|website=wired|date=6 Mar 2018|last1=Volpicelli |first1=Gian |accessdate=3 Oct 2018}}</ref>


Revision as of 09:42, 26 September 2019

Amir Taaki
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 top 30 entrepreneurs of 2014.[3][4][5][6] 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.[7]

Biography

Amir Taaki was born 6 February 1988[8] in London, the eldest of three children of a Scottish-English[9] mother and an Iranian father who is a property developer. From an early age Taaki took an interest in computer technology, teaching himself computer programming.[10]

After briefly attending two British universities,[9] 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.[11]

In 2006, Taaki became heavily involved in Crystal Space development under the pseudonym of genjix.[12] He also developed a number of video games making use of free software, including the adventure game Crystal Core[13] and the futuristic racer game Ecksdee.[14] Taaki was also a participant in the Blender project Yo Frankie!.[15]

Taaki was a speaker at the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig.

In 2009 and 2010, Taaki made his living as a professional poker player.[10] His experience with online gambling attracted him to the bitcoin project.[16] He founded a UK bitcoin exchange called "Britcoin", which was succeeded in 2011 by a new British exchange called Intersango, in which he was a principal developer,[17] which was closed after their UK bank account was restricted following an investigation by Metro Bank.[citation needed]

In 2014, together with Cody Wilson, he launched the Dark Wallet project after a crowdfunding run on IndieGoGo which raised over $50,000.[18][19][20] 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.[21]

As of 2013, he resided in an anarchist squat in the former anti-G8 HQ building in London, England.[22][23]

In 2015, Taaki went to Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) to offer his skills to the revolution, and served the YPG military.[24] 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.[25]

References

  1. ^ J.J. Colao. "Amir Taaki, 25 - In Photos: 2014 30 under 30: Technology". Forbes.
  2. ^ "Hacktivists in the frontline battle for the internet". The Guardian. London. 20 April 2012. 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.
  5. ^ "The UK entrepreneurs on Forbes list of people likely to join ranks of mega-rich - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online.
  6. ^ Sadie Nicholas. "Britain's under-30s tipped to be the nation's next billionaires". Express.co.uk.
  7. ^ Susannah Butter. "Tech enigma Amir Taaki on Forbes and fighting Isis in Syria". Standard.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Amir Taaki". Companies House. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b "Speakers 2011," 11th International EPCA Summit, European Payments Consulting Association, www.epcaconference.com/ Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  11. ^ "SDL_Collide". SourceForge. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Blender & CrystalSpace" in Blender Conference 2006, Youtube.
  13. ^ "Pablo Martin Moreno and Amir Taaki," Archived 19 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Blender Conference 2006 Proceedings, Blender
  14. ^ "Conference 2006". Crystal Space. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  15. ^ Yo Frankie developer list, www.yofrankie.org/
  16. ^ James Ball, "Bitcoins: how do they work?" The Guardian, 22 June 2011.
  17. ^ "About Us: Personal Statements," Intersango, britcoin.co.uk
  18. ^ Del Castillo, Michael (24 September 2013). "Dark Wallet: A Radical Way to Bitcoin". The New Yorker. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  19. ^ Greenberg, Andy (31 October 2013). "Dark Wallet Aims To Be The Anarchist's Bitcoin App of Choice". Forbes Online. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  20. ^ Greenberg, Andy (29 April 2014). "'Dark Wallet' Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever". Wired. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  21. ^ Greenberg, Andy (24 April 2014). "Inside the 'DarkMarket' Prototype, a Silk Road the FBI Can Never Seize". Wired. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  22. ^ Siddique, Haroon (11 June 2013). "G8: riot police enter central London building occupied by protesters". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  23. ^ Copestake, Jen (19 September 2014). "Hiding currency in the Dark Wallet". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  24. ^ Greenberg, Andy (29 March 2017). "How an anarchist Bitcoin coder found himself fighting ISIS in Syria". Wired. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  25. ^ 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.

Further reading

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