What is cryptanarchism?
Cryptoanarchism is a type of anarchism in which cryptographically protected anonymization technologies, digital pseudonyms and digital money are used to circumvent state control - surveillance, censorship and taxation.
How did cryptanarchism originate?
In the 1940s, Western intelligence agencies began to study the idea of the participation of the message recipient in the process of encoding it. In 1973, British mathematician Clifford Cox introduced a model in which an authorized recipient of a message could select two giant indivisible numbers and multiply them, obtaining the third giant number used as the public key. There was no need to hide it, since it is almost impossible to calculate two initial numbers.
In 1977, this concept became a working model when three professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman - released a public-key cryptographic algorithm based on the computational complexity of the large integer factorization problem and called RSA (abbreviation for their surnames).
Researchers suggested that RSA would be in demand given the mass distribution of e-mail, which requires tools to ensure the privacy of messages transmitted over the network and confirm the authenticity of their sources.
After the scientific journal Scientific American told RSA , the NSA concluded that RSA could limit its ability to track communications. The agency classified the algorithm as “military equipment,” which is subject to federal laws on arms smuggling, the distribution of which requires special permission.
In the 70s, when the first working prototypes of the Internet appeared, the issue of data protection in an open environment became relevant. In 1978, American cryptographer David Chaum, a student at the University of California at Berkeley, developed a blind digital signature method - a public key encryption model. Chaum’s development made it possible to create a database of people who could remain anonymous, while guaranteeing the accuracy of the information they provided about themselves.
Chaum dreamed of digital voting, the process of which can be verified without revealing the identity of the voter, but first of all about digital cash. In the mid-1980s, he managed to create a model in which users made payments while maintaining anonymity and guaranteeing the reality of the funds. A circle of cryptographers learned about the developments of Chaum, among which a movement appeared that advocated computer technology as a means of destroying the state.
The main ideologist of this movement was the American cryptographer, former leading researcher at Intel Timothy May . In 1987, May met the American economist, entrepreneur and futurist Philip Salin, who founded the American Information Exchange (AMiX), a network platform for data trading.
However, May did not like the idea of an electronic platform where people can (cross-border and with low commissions) sell unimportant information to each other. He dreamed of creating a global system that allows anonymous bilateral exchange of any information and resembles a corporate information system. Subsequently, he finalized this concept in the form of a BlackNet system , the operation of which required a non-governmental digital currency and the ability to make untracked payments in it.
In 1985, he read David Chaum's article, Security Without Identification: A Transactional System That Will Make Big Brother An Anachronism. In the article, Chaum described a system that cryptographic methods hides the identity of the buyer. Acquaintance with this idea prompted May to study public-key cryptographic protection, first described by Whitfield Diffie, Ralph Merkle and Martin Hellman in 1976. May soon came to the conclusion that public key cryptography, coupled with network computing, could "destroy the structures of social power."
In September 1988, May wrote " The Cryptanarchist Manifesto " based on the "Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx: "A ghost roams the modern world, a ghost of cryptanarchy." According to the manifesto, information technology will allow people to manage their lives without governments, but with the help of cryptography, digital currencies and other decentralized tools.
According to May himself, the ideological foundation of the “Cryptanarchist Manifesto” was such a kind of anarchism as “anarcho-capitalism”, in which the emphasis is on voluntary transactions and the free market.
How did the cypherpunk mailing list come about?
In 1992, Timothy May, John Gilmore (an IT specialist, one of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Eric Hughes (a mathematician at the University of California at Berkeley) invited 20 of their close friends to an informal meeting. During the meeting, they discussed the most pressing issues of cryptography and programming at that time.
Such meetings began to be held regularly and laid the foundation for a whole movement. An e-mail distribution (mailing list) was created in order to attract other people who share the interests and basic values of the founder group to work. Soon the newsletter, called “ CypherPunk ”, already had hundreds of subscribers - they tested ciphers, exchanged ideas and discussed new developments. Correspondence was conducted using the latest encryption methods, such as PGP. The group members led discussions on topics of politics, philosophy, computer science, cryptography and mathematics. In 1993, Eric Hughes published the CypherPunk Manifesto , which contains the key ideological points of this movement:
“Confidentiality is essential for an open society of the digital age. [...] Confidentiality in an open society requires the use of cryptography. [...] We, cipher banks, are called upon to create anonymous systems. We protect our privacy with cryptography, anonymous email forwarding systems, digital signatures and electronic money. [...] Cryptography will inevitably spread throughout the world, and with it the system of anonymous transactions, the existence of which it makes possible. "
By 1997, the mailing list had about 2,000 subscribers and 30 messages daily. In 1995, Julian Assange, the creator of WikiLeaks, published his first post at Cypherpunk . In 2016, he released a book on the movement of cipher banks, entitled “Cipher banks: Freedom and the future of the Internet.
Cypherpunk and cryptanarchism are not identical, but related phenomena. The term “cypherpunk” itself was first used by the hacker and programmer Jude Milhon to a group of cryptanarchists. The term “cryptanarchists” first appeared in 1993 in an article by Stephen Levy “Crypto-Rebels”.
Many works by Timothy May and other pioneers of the cryptanarchy were published in 2001 in the collection Cryptanarchy, Cyber State, and Pirate Utopias, edited by the American philosopher Peter Ludlow. The authors of the collection demonstrate the emergence of governance structures in network communities and the emergence of ideals of political sovereignty.
Ludlow sees virtual communities as laboratories for experimenting with the creation of new societies and governance structures. According to the philosopher, many experiments will fail, however, given the synergy of the networked world, the emergence of new types of society and governance structures that are superior to traditional ones is not ruled out.
What are the goals of cryptanarchism?
- Protection from mass surveillance of communication in computer networks. Cryptanarchists consider the development and use of cryptography to be the main means of liberation from state control.
- Getting rid of censorship, especially on the Internet, as contrary to freedom of expression, through the networks of Tor, I2P, Freenet and the like. According to cryptanarchists, freedom from censorship will help in the fight against corruption and allow opposition politicians to spread their views. Crypto-anarchists strive to create a global “Internet of trust” - a crowdfunding Internet service provider that uses peer-to-peer cellular communication stations that are collectively owned. This Internet is fully encrypted and confidential: an algorithm is integrated into the system that provides each member of the network with a signature and reputation, depending on his merits.
- Creation and development of a new economy based on viable alternatives to banking systems in the form of cryptocurrencies and decentralized financial services.
How has cryptanarchism affected cryptocurrencies?
The importance of confidentiality, anonymous transactions, cryptographic protection - all these ideas were subsequently implemented to one degree or another in cryptocurrencies.
In October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto sent the famous white paper “Bitcoin: a system of digital peer-to-peer cash” to the mailing list .
The content of the work testifies to the influence of cipher banks and cryptanarchists. In a white paper, Bitcoin cites British cryptographer Adam Beck and computer engineer Wei Dai . According to Nakamoto, Bitcoin “represents the implementation of Wei Dai’s b-money offer ... and Nick Szabo’s Bitgold offer .”
In turn, the manifesto of Wei Day, in which he puts forward the idea of b-money, begins with the words: "I admire Tim May's cryptanarchism." After the publication of the article, Nakamoto continued to work and on January 3, 2009, he extracted the genesis block of bitcoin.
The main ideologist of cryptanarchism, Timothy May, at the end of his life, said that the cryptocurrency industry actually betrayed the early ideals of this movement. In a recent interview in October 2018, he criticized the concept of compliance with laws and regulations. According to him, the spirit of cryptanarchism is contrary to the “Dragon rule“ Know Your Client ”, the requirement to comply with the law on combating money laundering, passports, freezing accounts and the requirement to report suspicious activity of the“ local secret police ”.
How does cryptanarchism develop?
Crypto-anarchism is not a single organized movement, but rather a set of values and views that are shared by a wide range of people, including WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange , former CIA and NSA officer Edward Snowden , programmers Cody Wilson and Amir Taaki and many others. All of them, to one degree or another, embody the ideals of cryptanarchism.
What are examples of successful implementation of the ideas of cryptanarchism?
Paralelni Polis Center was founded by members of the Czech art group Ztohoven and is located in a rented three-story building of a former factory in the center of Prague.
According to the founders of the center, this is “a unique“ think tank ”of freedom, focusing on the popularization of digital freedom, cryptocurrencies, anonymization networks and free markets.”
The key place in Paralelni Polis infrastructure is occupied by the Institute of Crypto-Anarchy - a space for hackers and developers, where tools are available for unlimited distribution of information on the Internet and the creation of a parallel decentralized economy, cryptocurrencies and other conditions for the development of a free society in the 21st century.
Paralelni Polis includes a Paper Hub coworking space for collaborative or individual work on projects. Coworking is open to freelancers, students, and startups, and combines art, social sciences, and technology.
Free Republic of Liberland
A virtual state, claiming an uninhabited disputed land area of seven square kilometers on the western bank of the Danube between Croatia and Serbia.
As a result of the establishment of new state borders in the years of chaos after the war in Croatia, this territory does not officially belong to any of the countries.
On April 13, 2015, Czech right libertarian and activist Vit Jedlicka announced the creation of an independent sovereign state on it. It has not received diplomatic recognition from the Member States of the United Nations.
Liberland's national motto is “live and let others live”, and Bitcoin is the official currency. The state has its own Wikipedia page, website, flag and coat of arms. A republic with elements of direct democracy was chosen as a form of government.
Hundreds of people received Liberland citizenship and more than half a million applied. According to the founder of the new state, Liberland needs maximum personal and economic freedom, which will be achieved using the latest blockchain technologies.
