Stephen Cole, venture investor interested in upgrading to better money stated, If you’re interested in contributing to Bitcoin Core, please consider doing so anonymously. Make protocol dev even more resilient to legal and social attacks.

This he stated in response to Jonas Schnelli, Former Bitcoin Developer and Maintainer (2013 – 2021) who stated, Dear Bitcoiners I decided to step down as Bitcoin Core maintainer and contributor. The last years where amazing and I coded, discussed and learned so much! I started contributing in 2013 and went full time in 2015. What a ride! But now, it’s time for me to move on.

Over the last years, many many experienced and high skilled developers joined the project. So don’t fear! The Bitcoin project is in the best hands possible. There are so many great Bitcoin projects going on right now. Exciting times!

You may ask, why step down now? What happened? Sometimes, interests shift and you can’t do much about it. On top, I feel that the legal risks for Bitcoin developers are increasing year by year (which can be stressful). New contributors should join anonymously (it’s tricky).

Community response:  What legal risks are you referring to? Is it the Faketoshi law suits or is it something else?

I agree. If anything, the legal risks for a developer appear to be minimizing over the years, IMO. What am I missing?

What legal risks? Announce it publicly, re-join anonymously.

Why is it tricky? Because it makes in-person (or just VC/VoIP) interaction risky, or because of the general difficulty of maintaining sufficient OpSec over prolonged time periods? (I think it’s not possible without regular identity reboots.)

Sounds like you may (or may not) come back and work anonymously. All is good.

You should do a Q&A about being a Bitcoin Core contributor for all the young ones out there. One question I am curious about is for sure what it means to go full-time as a Bitcoin Core contributor – Have you been living off of sponsors for 6 years?

It’s a bummer about the growing legal risks. I hope you’re secretly re-entering the bitcoin contribution game anonymously. But of course you aren’t, just as surely as that lost bitcoin from the boating accident is gone forever.

I thank you for everything you have done, and many others in the shadows are just as grateful. May you disappear into the setting sun and come back as a nym.