Opinion: Shady El Damaty, co-founder of Human.tech
Beyond the hype of accelerationists and technofile circles, a quiet crisis of confidence is entrenching emerging technologies.
Cryptographic and decentralized identity solutions have great potential to empower individuals and distribute power, but many builders and users are sounding alarms. Their disillusionment stems from real concern: oversight, centralization, is disguised as innovations and tools that serve the power, not people.
This conversation is no longer theoretical. From Deepfake Scams and AI spoofing to state-sponsored biometric ID proposals and EU AI law, digital rights are defined in real time.
In this climate, the question is not whether human rights should be embedded in the cryptosystem, but how quickly should they be?
The route in question is not the technology itself, but its design incorporates value. Crypto’s future legitimacy depends on incorporating human rights into its architecture.
Principles such as independence, universal personality, and default privacy should not be treated as optional features. They must be prerequisites for systems that argue that they promote human freedom.
Redefine independence as a human-centered person
Currently, if ethical principles cannot be incorporated into protocols, Web3 is intended to be confusing risks of replicating the same power dynamics.
Independence has long been the cornerstone of code. Similar to what led to the collapse of FTX, the failure of centralized exchanges and the ease of use challenges of many existing custody tools revealed an important gap. They are built for power users.
To be viable at scale, next-generation custody needs to maintain user control without sacrificing accessibility. If the goal is true user empowerment, lost keys, obscure interfaces, and vulnerable backups are not accepted. The future of custody relies on designs that balance safety, simplicity and sovereignty.
Universal personality as a digital need
Bots are more persuasive and as AI-generated interactions grow, you prove that humans are becoming more complex and essential. There is a need for a way to validate humanity without compromising privacy or individual autonomy.
State-run biometric IDs and corporate certification systems pose serious risks. Instead, a distributed and censored system of personality must allow individuals to prove themselves without surrendering it. It is the foundation of trust, integrity and inclusion in the digital space.
Privacy must be the default, not the patch
Surveillance, data breaches and behavioral tracking are Web2’s heritage. Web3 has the opportunity and obligation to break that pattern. Privacy is often treated as an add-on rather than a built-in right.
Related: Crypto’s true revolution is about humanity, not technology
By default per privacy means designing a system that minimizes data collection, encrypted by design, and autonomy in storing and using data. Visibility is never the default. All systems must start with the assumption that user protection is a feature rather than a toggle.
Address risks without giving up liability
Some critics argue that embedding value in a system could backfire and that ethical frameworks could be cooperative or politicized. That’s a real concern. That’s not an excuse for inaction yet. Transparent system design, open governance, and multidimensional alignment mechanisms can mitigate this risk and ensure that protocols are responsible not only for founders and investors but also for users.
Web3, when built responsibly, provides tools that can distribute control, empower the community and resist misuse. This possibility is only realized when the builder consciously embeds rights into the protocol layer, rather than trying to renovate the ethics after launch.
We are at the turning point. Human rights are no longer treated as external guardrails. They should become the internal operational principles of digital infrastructure. It’s not a philosophical luxury. It is essential for design.
The windows are open but narrow. If we need a digital future that will serve humanity, it’s time to embed our values in our code.
Opinion: Shady El Damaty, co-founder of Human.tech.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended to be considered legal or investment advice, and should not be done. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or express Cointregraph’s views and opinions.
