- Dr. Steven Waterhouse cofounded Orchid Labs to provide the world with uncensored internet.
- The decentralized VPN service raised over $40 million from VCs like Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz.
- Waterhouse tells Insider about how Orchid plays a crucial role in digital privacy.
Last year, crypto VC and startup founder Dr. Steve Waterhouse wrote, “In 2021, battles over the future of online privacy – and therefore the nature of the internet itself – will come to head.”
He was right: the pandemic forced the world online and ignited fresh outrage over tech companies scraping personal data. In September of 2021, a New York Times headline declared, “The Battle for Digital Privacy Is Reshaping the Internet.” And next month, China’s new data privacy laws go into effect.
Waterhouse, better known in crypto circles as “SEVEN,” has a knack for knowing what’s coming. He was a founding member of one the self-proclaimed first cryptocurrency funds in the US, Pantera Capital, and has been laser-focused on digital privacy for years.
His latest project Orchid Labs provides what he describes as a decentralized virtual private network (
VPN
). It’s designed to protects users’ privacy from data collection sites and give them access to an uncensored internet such as websites blocked by a corporate or ISP firewall, or by a government regime. While many flashy crypto projects are pricey (it’ll cost you hundreds to play Axie Infinity and thousands to join the buzziest crypto club), Orchid costs $1 for most uses.
Waterhouse cofounded the company in 2017 alongside some notable figures: Brian Fox, a key programmer who helped usher in the open source movement; Gustav Simonsson, who helped launch Ethereum; Stephen Bell, a general partner at BV2 Ventures; and Jay Freeman, a software engineer known for creating iPhone jailbreaking software.
Orchid got Silicon Valley’s stamp of approval in 2018 with investment from firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Blockchain Capital, and Sequoia Capital. The company has raised a total of $43 million, according to PitchBook, although at one point it was trying to raise $125 million.
Access to uncensored internet
Orchid Labs is not the only free or low-cost privacy-oriented VPN available. But Orchid is different, says Waterhouse, because it’s not hosted on a single cloud provider and instead uses a network of them. It also allows users to pay with cryptocurrencies.
“VPN companies are themselves centralized points of control. They are subject to coercion, they are subject to hacking themselves, they’re subject to their own economic interests, to sell your data,” he said.
One use case is for people living under authoritarian regimes. An anonymous Nigerian user said in emailed statement to Insider that he began using Orchid because of the Nigerian government’s increased censorship following the #EndSARS protest against police brutality which occurred a year ago. He did not reveal his identity citing safety reasons but was verified as a user by the company.
“Masking IP addresses has become a new norm in this part of the world,” he wrote, adding that he uses Orchid to stream blocked content.
However, Orchid is blocked in some countries that engage in censorship. “You can’t get to our websites in China,” Waterhouse said. “But so is two thirds of the internet so I don’t feel that special.”
Orchid offers a workaround in places where it’s banned that allows users to install binary code onto their Android devices. The idea is to create a service where governments can’t impact access at all.
“If you can build more open platforms like this, then maybe it doesn’t matter if you get banned,” Waterhouse said. “Even though someone can’t download it in a particular regime, maybe someone locally can build the interface that allows them to access that thing.”
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