Amir Taaki, a British-Iranian programmer and well-known early contributor to Bitcoin, reported on Tuesday that he had been deported from Singapore after being questioned by local police. Taaki stated that authorities interrogated him for several hours about his work before removing him from the country.
Deportation follows lengthy police interview
Taaki wrote on X that Singaporean authorities detained him for six hours, focusing on his activities in the cryptocurrency space. Describing the experience, he accused officials of conducting what he called shadow tactics.
“Just got questioned for 6 hours by glow police then deported from Singapore. Everything about what I work on. The extralegal glow regime charge my friends with fake things like money laundering. But they have nothing on me so they strike from the shadow. Weak coward tactics.”
Taaki noted that he has faced similar treatment in other countries throughout the past year. He claimed to have been deported from Argentina and Mexico, and briefly detained in Serbia and Japan. According to his account, authorities never provide him with explicit reasons for the repeated stops and removals.
He wrote, “Every time it happens I ask why and they always tell me it’s just a random check,” adding that he is unable to find out which country is responsible for placing him on a sanctions list.
Background and past controversies
Taaki first drew the attention of international law enforcement in 2016 when he travelled to Syria to fight alongside the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) against the Islamic State group. He spent three and a half months with the group before shifting to community development work in the country.
Following his return to the UK, he reportedly faced further scrutiny from British authorities. Taaki is known for his advocacy of privacy rights and digital autonomy, particularly within the cryptocurrency sector.
Role in Bitcoin and crypto privacy innovation
Widely regarded as a leading figure in the crypto-anarchist movement, Taaki co-authored several foundational privacy protocols in the early days of Bitcoin. He wrote the first implementations of CoinJoin and stealth addresses, created the libbitcoin library, and established the UK’s first Bitcoin exchange.
Taaki also authored BIP 0001, which introduced the formal Bitcoin Improvement Proposal process, enabling the community-driven evolution of the Bitcoin protocol.
Currently, he leads the development of DarkFi, a privacy-focused protocol aimed at enhancing anonymity within decentralized networks.
Mini dictionary: DarkFi, an open-source project focused on developing a decentralized privacy protocol, leverages advanced cryptography to build anonymous and censorship-resistant networks.
Taaki continues to be a vocal advocate for privacy in the digital age, emphasizing the importance of technologies that protect individuals from surveillance.
While authorities repeatedly subject him to questioning and removals, Taaki has stated he receives no official explanation, and remains unable to determine the origin of apparent sanctions.
