Cypherpunks, extropians and anarchists — meet the radical characters behind cryptocurren…

Posted

July 18, 2019 09:31:08

While cryptocurrencies have been in the spotlight for years now, much less is known about their origins — including the Californian-based anarchists and futurists of the 1970s and 80s who wrestled with this once-radical idea of how to make digital cash.

A host of digital, decentralised alternatives to money have made quite a splash since Bitcoin burst onto the scene only a decade or so ago, but their origins can be traced to a relatively small group of people interested in computers and privacy, who were wanting something like electronic money — only less traceable.

Finn Brunton, an assistant professor in technology and author of a book on the…