With Bitcoin and Kalashnikov
In early 2016, Taaki disappeared from the Bitcoin scene and traveled to Syria to fight against the terrorist group ISIS. With the Kurdish People's Protection Units [YPG] military group, the anarchist hacker stood at the front line and actively engaged in the war against ISIS. In an interview, Taaki stated:
"When I discovered Rojava [the term Kurds use to refer to northern or Syrian Kurdistan] I felt I had to go there. At first, I was completely scared - I thought I was going to die. I got sent to the frontline. I had no training, and I was given a Kalashnikov. I learned how to use a gun on the way, another Western fighter showed me. I found myself on the front with a gun, I had to fight. But I wanted to go elsewhere, where my skills would be useful."Who is Amir Taaki?
Taaki, who is best known as the creator of DarkMarket and operator of Bitcoin exchange Bitcoinica, was one of the most important figures in the early stages of Bitcoin development. In fact, New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, who wrote the book Digital Gold, initially planned on focusing the narrative of his book on Taaki and his involvement with Bitcoin.
At one point, Taaki was one of the four main developers to write off the Bitcoin code. During that time, Taaki also introduced DarkMarket, an anonymous marketplace which operates like Tor’s darknet marketplaces, which allows users to purchase or sell items with full anonymity. The platform was based on a technology called Dark Wallet, that essentially allowed users to make anonymous Bitcoin payments, for financial privacy.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-amir-taaki-tried-to-build-bitcoin-economy-in-syria-while-fighting-isis