Cypherpunk
A member of the 1990s movement that championed cryptography and privacy as tools against state and corporate control.
The intellectual ancestors of crypto. The cypherpunk mailing list, active from 1992, argued that strong encryption could protect individual freedom without asking permission. Members wrote code first and manifestos second.
Their fingerprints are everywhere in Bitcoin. Hal Finney, an early Bitcoin contributor, came from this world, as did ideas like digital cash and pseudonymity. Satoshi Nakamoto posted the Bitcoin white paper to a descendant of the same crowd.
Related terms
The pseudonymous person or group who created Bitcoin and then disappeared, leaving the project to the community.
CryptographyThe math of scrambling and verifying information so only intended parties can read or trust it.
White PaperA foundational document laying out a crypto project's technology and token design, modeled on Bitcoin's 2008 paper.
Web3A vision of an internet built on blockchains, where users own their assets and identity without central platforms.