After the United States strengthened its crackdown on privacy-focused software and Zksnacks closed its coordinated coinjoin service, Edward Snowden, a former contractor and whistleblower for the US National Security Agency, issued a stern warning to Bitcoin developers. He emphasized that time is running out to strengthen privacy and insisted that integration must be done at the protocol level. Previously, Snowden had praised the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC).