Crypto Anarchist Manifesto by Tim May

This is a post that is going to take us back in time to the year 1988. It will include the ideas from Tim May that he put to words in, "The Crypto-Anarchist Manifesto." It was a short document with Marxist-parodying language. Before we get into it, let me give you a quick background on Tim May.

Tim May worked as an Intel physicist. In 1991 he co-founded the cypherpunks for crypto-anarchist thinkers. He also helped create a thought-experiment prototype for cryptographically anonymous leaks called BlackNet. Now lets get to his Manifesto...

"A specter is haunting the modern world, the specter of crypto anarchy.

Computer technology is on the verge of providing the ability for individuals and groups to communicate and interact with each other in a totally anonymous manner. Two persons may exchange messages, conduct business, and negotiate electronic contracts without ever knowing the True Name, or legal identity, of the other. Interactions over networks will be untraceable, via extensive re-routing of encrypted packets and tamper-proof boxes which implement cryptographic protocols with nearly perfect assurance against any tampering...

The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns, use of the technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and fears of societal disintegration. Many of these concerns will be valid; crypto will allow illicit and stolen materials to be traded. An anonymous computerized market will even make possible abhorrent markets for assassinations and extortion. Various criminal and foreign elements will be active users of CrytpoNet. But his will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.

Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure, so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, crypto anarchy will create a liquid market for any and all material which can be put into words and pictures. And just as a seemingly minor invention like barbed wire made possible the fencing-off of vast ranches and farms, thus altering forever the concepts of land and property rights in the frontier West, so too will the seemingly minor discovery out of an arcane branch of mathematics come to be the wire clippers which dismantle the barbed wire around intellectual property.

Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!"
-Tim May 1988-

Pretty powerful words if you ask me. Looks like the fight for privacy and encryption has been going on for decades. The struggle still continues today. As a result of this type of thinking, we now have crypto currencies and blockchain technology. And like Tim mentioned, the government is trying to fight it. The IRS is hassling Coinbase to provide user information, the new Tax Law in the US wants to tax all crypto transactions (even if you do not cash out into fiat), banks are closing individual accounts if they find out individuals are dealing with crypto currencies, the media used to constantly report on Silk Road being used for drug dealers and illegal black market purchases, etc. The truth is, I believe the banks and oligarchs are scared. They are slowly losing their grip and control over the masses. Crypto technology has the potential to give people back their power and create the greatest wealth transfer in all of history. I am proud of the progress that has been made in the recent years with cryptos and blockchain technology, and I can't wait the see what possibilities the future holds. The best is yet to come...