While the Bitcoin as the entire crypto sector has benefited from exceptional growth for several years, it seems legitimate to be interested in the movement which favored their appearance. The latter is referred to as Cypherpunkand we will explore its implications for the blockchain industry in a little more detail during this article.
What are the origins of the Cypherpunk movement?
First of all, it should be emphasized that the Cypherpunk movement bases its principles on intensive use of cryptography, so that the general public can effectively protect their privacy rights. Additionally, the term Cypherpunk is a combination of “cypher,” which means encryption, and “punk,” which refers to a protest subculture and a spirit of resourcefulness.
The Cypherpunk movement was born in the 1980s, at a time when the cryptographic field was until now reserved for military forces and intelligence agencies. He is greatly influenced by science fiction authors like William Gibson. The latter published Neuromancer in 1984a novel which describes the daily life of a gang of thugs in a world dominated by corporations and where cutting-edge technology sets the pace for people’s lives.
There are themes such as artificial intelligence, cybernetic implants and a global computer network, all while the Internet was still in its infancy. As a result, this novel is considered by many observers to be visionary. Note that it inspired flagship cinema titles such as the saga Matrix and the animated film Ghost in the Shell.
It is also possible to cite the case of Neil Stephenson and his science fiction novel Snow Crash published in 1992where we find a virtual space in which users have the feeling of being immersed and can interact with each other thanks to their avatars.
Little by little, the Cypherpunk movement began to spread to an insider audience via private messaging circles. After several years spent in the shadows, the Cypherpunk movement is revealed to the general public in the context of an article published by the magazine Wired in May 1993. On the cover of this edition of Wired magazine, we find three masked men: Tim May, Eric Hughes And John Gilmore. The latter being prominent cypherpunks and played a particularly important role in the advancement of the movement.
In this publication, they collectively emphasize the importance of encryption tools and new technologies in order to protect the privacy of citizens, but more broadly the democratic framework as a whole. Furthermore, they consider that the ability to communicate secretly and anonymously is essential to preserve one’s independence and political freedom.
Cypherpunks advocate the use of encryption methods, such as public key cryptography and virtual private networks (VPN), in order to prevent interception and spying on online conversations and activities.
How did the Cypherpunk movement contribute to the birth of Bitcoin?
The Cypherpunk movement played a significant role in the development of the Internet and technologies that have derived from this phenomenon. This concerns in particular projects focused on the protection of private data, but also the browser Tor as well as the entire industry Blockchain.
Continuing with the elements mentioned previously, many cypherpunks then looked into the case of the first digital currencies. We find in particular the projects eCash And DigiCash both of which were developed by David Chauma high-profile American computer scientist.
With these two concepts, David Chaum’s main ambition was to offer the possibility to holders of digital currencies to be able to withdraw electronic notes from their bank and to be able to exchange them for goods or services, all without their various financial movements being able to be monitored by banking agencies or the country’s intelligence services.
However, all these attempts very quickly ended in failure, probably due to a lack of understanding on the part of the general public as well as limited interest on the part of users. It will be necessary to wait 1998 to witness the creation of B-Moneythe first electronic money that has a truly decentralized character.
This initiative was launched by Nick Szabo and his sidekick Wei Daitwo early cypherpunks whose work will be cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in the original white paper of the Bitcoin.
These various technical advances lead to the invention of Bitcoin around 2008 by an unknown entity referred to as Satoshi Nakamoto. This is a revolutionary element which is in direct line with the proposals of the Cypherpunk movement due to its nature resistant to government censorship.
Many ideas from the Cypherpunk movement are included in the structure of Bitcoin, including the use of advanced cryptography to protect user privacy while guaranteeing secure transactions.
In addition, it seems necessary to emphasize that Bitcoin could be used in the first years of its existence in a manner anonymous much more easily than today due to lack of KYC procedures (Know Your Customer) on most platforms. Thus, Bitcoin can legitimately be considered as the ultimate heir to the founding principles of the Cypherpunk movement.
On the same subject :