Steve Bannon, the former assistant to President Donald Trump and the proponent of right-wing populist movements, is now promoting the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology's liberating potential.

Bannon alluded to both the financial and non-financial applications of blockchain, as those intended for the management of personal data, on Tuesday at an event in Zurich sponsored by the Swiss newspaper Die Weltwoche.

During his lecture, part of a European tour, he described cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology as the "very heart" of a populist movement in Switzerland.

The former head of the right-wing media Breitbart, who helped Trump win the presidency in 2016 as the main strategist of the campaign, praised the importance of decentralization by saying:

"Central banks are in the business of debasing their currency. The central governments are in the business of degrading their citizenship. The conglomerates of central technology are in the business of degrading their own personal sovereignty and their own personal data. "

Bannon, previously a member of the National Security Council, was fired from the White House in August 2017.

During his brief tenure he often criticized "financial elites," including Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

Now the former media mogul considers the cryptocurrencies as a perfect tool to escape the control of such elites. Bannon said:

"We took control of central banks. That will give us power again ... Once you take control of your currency, once you take control of your data, once you take control of your citizenship, that's when you'll have true freedom. "

However, he went on to say that the best way to "break" what he described as the globalized culture of economic oppression is with populist and nationalist movements like the one he popularized in the United States.

His claims of political overtones in relation to cryptocurrencies inspired resounding applause in the European audience.

Source: CoinDesk