The cypherpunk movement emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s in a historical context marked by growing concern over privacy and individual freedom in the digital age. “Cypher” refers to cryptography and encryption (from “cipher” or “cypher”), while “punks” refers to rebellious individuals—rebels who use encryption tools and cryptography as shields and weapons. The term also evokes the cyberpunk genre of science fiction, which focuses on dystopian futures dominated by technology.

Several factors contributed to this context:

  • Government surveillance: Revelations about mass surveillance activities by governments, such as those that emerged from the Church Committee hearings in the 1970s, fueled concerns about privacy.
  • Growing digitalization: The rapid expansion of digital networks and the increasing dependence on technology made individuals more vulnerable to surveillance and control.
  • Government control of digital infrastructure: Governments began exerting greater control over digital infrastructure and networks, raising concerns about censorship and limits to freedom of speech.

In this context, cypherpunks, a group of technologists and activists, came together to advocate for the widespread use of strong cryptography as a means to protect privacy and enable political dissent in the digital age. Their primary concerns and motivations included:

  • Protecting privacy: Cypherpunks believed that privacy was essential for fundamental civil rights, such as freedom of speech and association, and that strong cryptography was the most effective tool to protect privacy online.
  • Resisting mass surveillance: They viewed encryption as a way to counter mass surveillance programs and protect the right to anonymity.
  • Individual autonomy: Cypherpunks advocated for individual sovereignty and the right of people to control their data and communications without interference from governments or corporations.
  • Decentralizing power: They promoted decentralized systems, such as peer-to-peer networks, to reduce dependence on centralized authorities and promote individual empowerment.

Cypherpunks dedicated time and resources to researching and developing new cryptographic protocols, algorithms, and tools to make encryption accessible to everyone. One of the most important projects was PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), an encryption program for files and email communications developed by Phil Zimmermann. Cypherpunks also fiercely opposed government policies that would undermine citizens’ privacy, such as the proposal of the Clipper Chip, an encryption chip with a government backdoor that would allow access to encrypted communications.

The cypherpunk movement had a significant impact on cryptography and digital privacy, helping to mainstream these technologies and raising public awareness about the importance of privacy in the digital age. The movement’s legacy continues to influence the development of privacy technologies, such as cryptocurrencies and anonymity networks, and inspires digital rights activism.

Timeline of the “Cypherpunk Movement”⌗

  • Late 1970s: The Church Committee hearings reveal the existence of mass surveillance programs for the first time, fueling privacy concerns.
    • 1976:
      • Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman publish a paper, “New Directions in Cryptography,” where they describe the concept of public key cryptography, revolutionizing the way information can be protected.
      • Through the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) enacted by the United States Congress, the government made it illegal to export armaments to other countries without a license, including cryptography. Violation of the AECA carried penalties of up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to one million dollars. This move prohibited the distribution of cryptographic code, which was considered akin to smuggling munitions. In fact, until 1997, cryptographic code was legally considered a bomb by the U.S. government.
    • 1977: Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman developed the first widely used public key encryption algorithm, known as RSA, based on the difficulty of factoring large integers.
  • Late 1980s - early 1990s:
    • Governments began intensifying intelligence programs and asserting greater control over digital infrastructure and networks.
    • The early roots of the cypherpunk movement originated in the research of cryptographer David Chaum on topics such as anonymous digital cash and pseudonymous reputation systems, as described in the paper “Security without Identification: Transaction Systems to Make Big Brother Obsolete“.
    • The first online meetings and mailing lists took place, where prominent figures like Timothy C. May exchanged ideas and collaborated remotely before the spread of the internet.
    • 1988: Timothy C. May, an American engineer and writer, wrote “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto.”
    • 1989 David Chaum developed DigiCash, the first electronic payment system based on asymmetric cryptography and blind-signature.
  • Early 1990s:
    • 1991:
      • Philip Zimmermann developed and released PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), software that allowed people to encrypt and decrypt emails and files, making strong encryption accessible to the public.
      • The release of PGP led the U.S. government to open an FBI investigation into its export, galvanizing privacy advocates and marking the beginning of the so-called “Crypto Wars”.
      • Two researchers, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta, published the paper “How to Time-Stamp a Digital Document”, demonstrating how to assert with absolute certainty the existence of a specific document at a given point in history.
    • 1992:
      • Jude Milhon, known as St. Jude, a programmer and activist, coined the term cypherpunk.
      • September: Eric Hughes, Timothy C. May, and John Gilmore formed a small group of computing enthusiasts, which later became known as the Cypherpunk Movement, as suggested by J. Milhon. They created the “Cypherpunks Mailing List”, an online forum for discussing cryptography, privacy, and related issues. John Gilmore offered the offices of his company, Cygnus Solutions, for monthly meetings, at the first of which Tim May read “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto” and hosted the “Cypherpunks Mailing List” on his website.
      • November 22, 1992: “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto” was published, written in 1988 by Tim May.
    • 1993:
      • The Clipper Chip was proposed, intended to be adopted by telephone companies and sought to implement encryption with backdoors and key escrow managed by the NSA, generating strong opposition from Cypherpunks and civil liberties groups.
      • March 9, 1993 Publication of "A Cypherpunk’s Manifesto". Eric Hughes, an American mathematician, cryptographer, and writer, wrote the manifesto of the movement, defining Cypherpunks as “a new kind of social activist, promoting cryptography vigorously in the belief that it is the most effective means of protecting privacy in the information age.”
      • In the May/June 1993 issue, Wired magazine published a cover story on Cypherpunks.
    • 1994: Timothy C. May published The Cyphernomicon, a vast collection of ideas, discussions, and information regarding cryptography, privacy, anonymity, and the political and social implications of cryptographic technologies in the digital age.
    • 1997:
      • End of investigations on Phil Zimmermann:
        • After years of investigations, the case against Zimmermann was closed without formal charges, marking a symbolic victory for the cypherpunk movement.
      • Adam Back, a British computer scientist and cryptographer, developed Hashcash, a proof-of-work system designed to counter email spam and denial-of-service attacks. This system required the sender to perform a computational task before sending a message, making mass unwanted email sending costly.
    • 1998: Wei Dai, a computer engineer, described the concept of “cryptocurrency” for the first time in the cypherpunk mailing list, suggesting the idea of a new form of money that uses cryptography to control its creation and transactions rather than a central authority.
  • 2008: Bitcoin emerged, utilizing cryptography to power a decentralized, trustless payment network. Hashcash, which adopts the concept of proof-of-work as a central mechanism for transaction validation and network security, mentioned above, is cited in the Bitcoin white paper. Many of the early users and collaborators of Bitcoin came directly from the Cypherpunk ranks.
  • 2013: Edward Snowden, whistleblower, former computer technician, and consultant for the NSA through the company Booz Allen Hamilton, after previously working for the CIA, revealed, with the help of journalists from the Guardian and the Washington Post, a wide range of secret information on global mass surveillance conducted by the U.S. government, particularly by the National Security Agency (NSA).
  • Today ->: The Cypherpunk movement continues to influence debates on technology and politics, pushing for innovations that enhance privacy and keeping excesses that could undermine civil liberties in check. It continues to advocate for privacy, digital civil liberties, and decentralized alternatives through ongoing technical progress.