The Good Tech Companies - Cypherpunks Write Code: David Chaum & Ecash

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/cypherpunks-write-code-david-chaum-and-ecash. David Chaum is known to be the inventor of digital cash, long before Satoshi Nakamoto. That’s why he deserves a mention as an honorary cypherpunk! Check more stories related to web3 at: https://hackernoon.com/c/web3. You can also check exclusive content about #cypherpunk, #ecash, #david-chaum, #electronic-cash-system, #p2p-payments, #cypherpunks-and-blockchain, #obyte, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @obyte. Learn more about this writer by checking @obyte's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. David Chaum, an American computer engineer and talented cryptographer, is likely the pioneer of all things crypto. He’s known to be the inventor of digital cash, long before Satoshi Nakamoto. Chaum provided a lot of pieces that would come together to create Bitcoin, eventually.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. Cypherpunks Writecode, David Chom and eCache, by Obite. The cypherpunk movement started with a mailing list in 1992, but there were pioneers of online privacy even before that. David Chom, an American computer engineer and talented cryptographer, is likely the pioneer of all this. He wasn't on the mailing list back then, to our knowledge, but he was definitely creating new software with cryptography to preserve our anonymity and improve older systems. He's known to be the inventor of digital cash,

long before Satoshi Nakamoto. That's why he deserves a mention as an honorary cypherpunk, or, just like Bloomberg called him, the godfather of crypto. After all, Cham provided a lot of pieces that would come together to create Bitcoin, eventually. He was born to a Jewish family in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1955, and built a doctorate in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. The same year, he launched a whole conference about cryptography and its potential uses, and that was actually the kind of bold move a cypherpunk would make since the

US government was paying close attention to these systems, in a bad way. In the early 1980s, cryptographic technology was classified as a munition under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, ETAR, which meant that exporting, even creating or sharing, strong encryption technology was heavily restricted. CHOM avoided being legally targeted for this by creating the International Association for Cryptologic Research, IACR, at the same time, securing protection as an international scientific association by the United Nations. The IACR still exists today, and it organizes several annual conferences on cryptography across the globe. After that first crypto conference, Cham landed as a professor at

the University of New York and the University of California. E-cash. In 1983, Cham published a paper called, Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments, in which he described a new privacy-preserving financial technology built with cryptography. That's the groundwork of eCash, the first privacy-oriented electronic cash system in the wild, that would come to life when Cham founded the company DigiCash in 1989. And this system allowed users to store money in a digital format on their computers and spend it anonymously at any shop that accepted eCash. It aimed to protect their privacy by ensuring that transactions didn't require opening accounts with vendors or transmitting credit card numbers. As we mentioned, the core technology behind eCash was the use of blind signatures. They are digital signatures where the message content is hidden, blinded, before being signed. This technique ensures that the signer can't see the

message content, providing unlinkability between the withdrawal and spending of the digital currency. As a result, the bank couldn't trace individual transactions, preserving the user's anonymity. However, the bank was still necessary as a middleman, and the money's ultimate origin was still a central bank. eCash was a system, not a currency by itself, and, of course, it wasn't as decentralized as modern cryptocurrencies. That's maybe why, despite initial interest from large banks, DigiCash ended UP declaring bankruptcy in 1998. The concept, however, opened the path for future developments in digital currency and cryptographic privacy solutions.

More than eCash, the cryptographic and privacy-oriented efforts by David Chom didn't end with eCash or the blind signatures. One of his notable achievements was the development of mixed networks in 1981, an anonymous communication system. Mixed networks work by encrypting and batching messages from multiple senders, reordering and obfuscating them at each server until they reach their final destination. This concept is foundational to modern anonymous browsing tools like Tor, emphasizing Chom's pioneering role in enhancing internet privacy. Chom also introduced undeniable signatures in 1989, which allow the signatory to control who can verify the signature through an interactive process. This ensures that signatures are considered valid unless actively disavowed by the signer.

Additionally, in 1991, he developed group signatures, enabling a group member to sign messages on behalf of the group anonymously, with a group manager capable of revoking anonymity if necessary. Another significant area of Cham's work is in voting systems. Starting in 1981, he proposed a voting system that maintains voter privacy while ensuring verifiable tallies using mixed networks. His later work included SureVoting 1991, which allowed secure voting from entrustworthy systems and a series of cryptographically verifiable voting systems like Pret-A-Voter, Punchscan, and Scantegrity. These systems have been employed in some real-world elections. More recently, CHOM has been working on the XX Network, a high-speed privacy-protected blockchain with quantum-resistant consensus and currency with metadata shredding via mixing.

In other words, this network is designed with robust encryption for a variety of privacy-centric use cases, including secure messaging, anonymous transactions, and protecting user metadata from surveillance. Tools for privacy. As Chom and other cypherpunks have pondered, the use of privacy tools today is seven more important than in the last century. According to the Zimmerman Law, another remarkable cypherpunk, the natural flow of technology tends to move in the direction of making surveillance easier, the ability of computers to track us doubles every 18 months. The sad truth is that surveillance is only the first step to abuse from cyber criminals, corporations, and governments. We need to protect our information and our funds

to the best of our ability. Luckily for us, there are numerous tools and decentralized ecosystems that will at us to adjust by using them, and one of them is Obite. This decentralized ecosystem offers a compelling solution for those seeking to protect their online privacy and financial freedom. Its directed acyclic graph, DAG, structure sets it apart from blockchains by providing a more decentralized and censorship-resistant framework. Since there are no miners, validators, or other middlemen, only users are in charge of their own transactions and data. This architecture allows for secure and immutable operations, ensuring that no single entity can control, censor, or somehow manipulate the network. With Obite, users can conduct their

digital activities with greater confidence, knowing that their information and financial transactions are protected. The platform's robust security measures and decentralized nature make it an ideal choice for anyone looking to maintain their privacy and autonomy in the digital age. By leveraging Obite's technology, individuals can safeguard their data and assets enjoying a higher level of freedom and security online just like cypherpunks have wanted read more from cypherpunks right code series tim may and crypto anarchism way die and be money nick sabo and smart contracts adam back and hashgash eric hughes and remailash, Eric Hughes and Remailer, St. Jude and Community Memory, Julian Assange and Wikileaks, Hal Finney and RPOW, John Gilmore and F, Satoshi Nakamoto and Bitcoin,

Gregory Maxwell and Bitcoin Core, Vinay Gupta and Maturium, Featured Vector Image by Gary Killian, Freepik Photograph of David Chom by P.R.Azo Midheach, Web Summit Thank you for listening to this Hackernoon story, read by Artificial Intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.