Topic: The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto - We all should read it (Read 787 times)

Delayed response, I have been too busy, and haven't had enough time online recently:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5433028.60
This looks like the exact post link:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.62246530

First, I had no idea how to answer, but I quickly found it in my browser history. Nice going GazetaBitcoin, helping to keep the dream alive for some people.



ps.

No, not exactly following you, I probably found the link to second thread when coming back to read more of the first one.
More active? Maybe someday, I have read many older threads and cannot honestly say the current conditions at this forum compare favorably.  People like you do help make it better.

And I thank you for inspiring me with the essay you wrote before mine, The Cypherpunk Manifesto!


Much appreciated, bitmover! It is very important to spread among many languages these historic documents which opened the path for free cryptography, private communications and, ultimately, for Bitcoin!

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These documents are also very important for all those which shared Cypherpunk's vision and ideology. I read them both in the past, but I could not find True Nyms online... But I knew there was a book containing this essay. I am talking about Vernor Vinge's True Names and I searched a lot for finding this book. May's True Nyms is in the opening of the book and I was really fascinated while reading his essay.

But thank you for sharing this online version of this essay, which I could never find before!

A good read. Thanks for sharing this. This is a rather short manifesto so everybody can spare a minute to read it.

If I may add, those who are interested to read a much longer piece by this visionary, he also wrote The Cyphernomicon, a Cypherpunks FAQ, but not the official one as he clearly stated there. He also wrote True Nyms and Crypto Anarchy.

It's interesting to note that the man who fought for privacy and looked forward to technological advances which would offer anonymity especially against the snooping government worked as a senior scientist at Intel, a company that collects massive personal data and works with the government.

Thanks for sharing such amazing article.

Here is my small contribution to this unstoppable cause:

Portuguese translation: O Manifesto Cripto Anarquista

Great article and rich.

The invention of the cryptocurrencies is the breakage of the wielding power that the government of the world have vested on the centralized currencies.

As basic as the currency, I suggest that, globally, it shouldn't be overcontrolled by the government because that will in another way, make it difficult for people to enjoy independence or ability to have alternatives.

The advent of the decentralized system of cryptocurrencies is a liberation of currency’s independence which gives people more confidence to save their money and so on.

Just curious -- in which thread did you find the link to my topic?


I also hope that more and more people will become aware of Tim May's essay, which was written decades ago. Sadly, he was never a member of our forum. His brilliant mind and his Cypherpunk knowledge would have brought a lot of wisdom among the forum users...

At same time, what baffles me is that you have only 7 posts made on the forum in more than 3 years, this being the seventh, and the sixth post you made was also made inside a topic of mine. Your sixth post was made almost 7 months ago. So when you returned you decided to write again in a topic started by me. Are you following me? I don't mind, of course -- quite the opposite. At same time, maybe you could be more active?

I found this from a link in a newer thread, and think more people should have a chance to see it. Tim May was an amazing visionary, and I'm really happy to learn about him here.

It was a very good and concise article, in just a few lines he summarized all the good and bad sides that cryptocurrencies can bring.
Bitcoin is a decentralized currency and governments don't like it. They are unable to regulate and because of concerns about the impact of bitcoin on world finance, besides money laundering and tax evasion are also one of the government's concerns.
Everyone in the cryptocurrency market will have a long battle before cryptocurrencies are accepted by governments and I believe victory will be ours.

This is a wonderful article to draw our attention to, and I've read it and it's wonderful to read because it seems like Tim May had the bitcoin in mind when delivering that essay, when you talk about anonymity, a system free from government control, you talk about conducting business without even knowing the others true name, it's the bitcoin, C'mon we do not even know if satoshi's real name is really that.

But yes all the points raised about governments interference is also true, we look at China and other countries that show hostility and what they think about bitcoin and cryptocurrency, they want a centralized coin, one they can control, one that wouldn't be decentralized nor anonymous, but truth still remains that despite their efforts bitcoin and cryptocurrency(decentralized ones)is here to stay for good.

Following bitmover's topic, another must read article is The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, written by Tim May.

The essay was first made public in 1988 (4 years earlier than Eric Hughes' article A Cypherpunk Manifesto), at Crypto '88 conference and it depicts the extraordinary vision of Tim May over some aspects which became real 30 years later.

The manuscript details how technology based on cryptography  and reputation systems will change the world as we know it, including governs, taxes or economic control:

"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. Reputations will be of central importance, far more important in dealings than even the credit ratings of today. These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation.".

May's vision certainly can be appreciated in crypto with Jules Verne's vision in science-fiction.

With just so few words, he expressed so many actual technological developments, such as smart contracts, Tor, Bitcoin technology or the reputation system (used, for example, on BitcoinTalk as the Merit and Trust systems).

The reference to the "True Name" might be inspired from Vernor Vinge's novel "True Names" (1981), which is a fine piece of art.

He also forseen the apparition of black markets and the governs' fight to stop the information getting to the people:

"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 anarchy will allow national secrets to be trade freely and 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 CryptoNet. But this will not halt the spread of crypto anarchy.".

The essay ends with "Arise, you have nothing to lose but your barbed wire fences!". The barbed wire fences are well known by the Americans. They is a part of their history: the western territories were bordered with barbed wires and the cowboys, which wanted freedom, were cutting the wires. It is a call to fight against the governs' corruption and oppression. Against secret agencies' efforts to shut down the information.

All of us should continue Cypherpunks' work and to fight for freedom!

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Translations (in chronological order):

• Română: Manifestul Crypto Anarhic – Cu toții ar trebui să-l citim, translation by GazetaBitcoin
• Filipino: [Translation] Ang anarkiya at pag manipesto ng krypto - Mahalagang dapat basahin, translation by Peanutswar
• Polish: Manifest kryptoanarchistyczny - Wszyscy powinniśmy go przeczytać, translation by cygan
• Pidgin: De Crypto Anarchist Manifesto - Make all of us read am, translation by sokani
• French: Le Manifeste Crypto-anarchiste - Nous devrions tous le lire, translation by iwantmyhomepaidwithbtc2
• Portuguese: O Manifesto Cripto Anarquista - Todos nós devemos ler, translation by bitmover
• Bengali: ক্রিপ্টো নৈরাজ্যবাদী ফতোয়া - পড়া উচিৎ, translation by Learn Bitcoin
• Indonesian: Manifesto Crypto Anarchist – Kita semua harus membacanya, translation by dansus021
• Russian: Maнифecт кpиптoaнapxиcтa - нaм вceм cлeдy, translation by FP91G
• Urdu: کرپٹو انارکسٹ مینی فیسٹو - ہم سب کو اسے پڑھنا, translation by JunaidAzizi
• German: Das krypto-anarchistische Manifest - Wir sollten es alle lesen, translation by cygan
• Ukrainian: Maнiфecт кpиптo-aнapxicтiв - ми вci пoвинн, translation by DrBeer