Shauli Zacks
Published on: October 2, 2025
SafetyDetectives recently spoke with Robertas Višinskis, Founder of Mysterium Network, a pioneering decentralized VPN built on blockchain technology. In our conversation, Robertas shared how his experiences growing up in post–Cold War Eastern Europe shaped his vision for a freer, more transparent internet. He discussed why decentralization is key to online privacy, the challenges of building censorship-resistant tools, and how Mysterium is working to make secure, anonymous access to the internet part of everyday life.
Can you tell us about your background and what led you to create Mysterium Network? What problem did you set out to solve when you started the project?
Hello, Thanks for having me and asking these important questions.
I grew up in a post–Cold War Eastern Europe. It was a turbulent time. We left the Soviet Bloc, then joined the EU and NATO, and suddenly the air felt lighter.
For a moment it looked like we were on a path to new heights of freedom and transparency, ready to leap forward into a new reality where the shackles of old regimes were discarded and that gloomy past was left only to be studied by scholars and displayed in museums.
Unfortunately, the more I experienced this new world, the more I realized we were moving in a different direction — one where surveillance is ubiquitous yet invisible, where power is consolidated by the few, and frequently abused for selfish or nefarious reasons rather than the betterment of society.
I was naive, and my worldview had to change. I consider Snowden to be my hero. He bravely showed the world what levels of corruption and injustice can hide inside big and centralized powers.
I started seeking solutions. I had a vision of a world where individual freedom of choice is untouchable, and transparency of those in power is guaranteed. Thankfully, there were movements that gave hope. The Blockchain and Open Source movements fit perfectly into my vision for a free world. I decided to join early and started looking for opportunities to contribute.
2016 was the year when I realized the concept of decentralization fit perfectly with VPN technology. When VPN exit nodes are decentralized — owned and run by regular people all across the world — it becomes exponentially more difficult for a centralized power to surveil user behavior. Unlike traditional VPNs, where all exit nodes belong to a single entity (and all it takes is one phone call), decentralization creates real resilience.
Thus the journey began.
For readers who may not be familiar, how would you describe Mysterium Network and the role it plays in advancing internet freedom and online security?
Mysterium Network is contributing towards an open internet, as we’ve observed a trend where corporations and governments around the world are centralizing control. Privacy is being traded away under the pretense of presumed security.
We build tools that unlock potential for both users and companies to protect themselves against censorship and other unjust restrictions.
We stay true to our principle of community. Tens of thousands of independent people have joined to run a node on our network while getting paid for their service. To build an open internet, we have to work together with the community.
The decentralized nature of our network gives it resilience. We’re developing tools that open up ways into this network for both regular users via a VPN product and for companies through business tools and partnerships.
As an organization, we see ourselves in a few roles: developers of tools to ensure seamless integration with Mysterium Network for both users and businesses, and enablers of the community.
Decentralization is a big theme for Mysterium. What are the main advantages of a decentralized VPN compared to traditional VPN providers?
The biggest advantage of decentralization is resilience. It’s much harder to track, block, or surveil users if they use a network of independent nodes armed with full end-to-end encryption.
Traditional VPN providers run on centralized infrastructure and resources, which by nature creates a single point of failure. They can be easy targets for hostile governments, ISPs, or malicious actors.
With Mysterium VPN, traffic is distributed across thousands of independent residential nodes that act as servers, operated by people all over the world — not by us.
These residential nodes make your connection appear to come from a genuine home IP address. Websites treat it like ordinary user traffic, giving you smoother access to geo-restricted content and a more natural browsing experience than typical datacenter IPs, which are often flagged by various services.
Operating in the blockchain and privacy space comes with both technical and regulatory challenges. What are some of the biggest hurdles you’ve faced, and how have you addressed them?
One of the biggest hurdles is building technology that balances decentralization with usability. Blockchains and peer-to-peer networks are more complex than centralized services. Users expect a smooth and familiar experience — whether it’s a VPN or a streaming app.
Our goal was to make sure that using Mysterium VPN feels as simple as using the internet without a VPN, but with added privacy and freedom. That meant focusing on speed, stability, and ease of use. It was a difficult battle, but after years of work we achieved something we’re proud of.
On the regulatory side, tools designed for privacy and freedom often exist in a gray area. Some governments are increasingly hostile toward technologies that make surveillance and censorship harder.
To address this, we’ve taken a compliance-minded approach while staying true to our mission. We operate transparently, we don’t collect logs, and we’ve built our network in a way that prioritizes user sovereignty without creating legal risks for node operators. It’s a delicate dance, but one we’ve been navigating successfully for years.
How do you see the demand for censorship-resistant tools evolving in the coming years, especially in regions where internet freedom is restricted?
Global trends point toward more restrictions, more surveillance, and more fragmentation. From governments imposing social media restrictions to websites requiring government-issued IDs, people are rapidly losing freedoms online.
As this continues, demand for anti-censorship tools keeps growing. We’re already seeing spikes in VPN usage during political unrest or when laws block access to certain platforms.
More people and companies are seeking permanent, reliable solutions instead of temporary workarounds. Thanks to decentralization, Mysterium is in a position to meet this demand. Resistance to censorship is moving from a niche community to a mainstream expectation.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Mysterium Network? Are there upcoming projects, partnerships, or innovations that you’re particularly excited about?
Our focus is to keep improving user experience while staying true to our mission of making the internet open and protected from surveillance.
That means faster, more reliable connections and expanded global coverage of our node network, so users can access censored content from anywhere. We’re also adding features to unlock new protective aspects.
We’re working on deeper integrations within the Web3 ecosystem, including partnerships that bring Mysterium’s censorship-resistant infrastructure into other apps and services that require secure, private internet access.
In terms of innovation, we’re exploring smarter routing technologies and better economic incentives for node operators.
Ultimately, the next phase for Mysterium is about increased usability — bringing decentralized privacy and anonymity tools from the sidelines into everyday internet use.
