Cypherpunks

Satoshi Nakamoto is an alias used by the person or entity who created Bitcoin to hide their true identity. Satoshi Nakamoto was the first to solve the double-spending problem for a decentralized digital currency, creating a new asset, the likes of which the world has never seen before, Bitcoin. 

• Abstract. A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work. The longest chain not only serves as proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came from the largest pool of CPU power. As long as a majority of CPU power is controlled by nodes that are not cooperating to attack the network, they'll generate the longest chain and outpace attackers. The network itself requires minimal structure. Messages are broadcast on a best effort basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will, accepting the longest proof-of-work chain as proof of what happened while they were gone.

In 2004, Hal Finney created a reusable proof of work (RPOW), which built on Adam Back’s Hashcash. After graduation from Caltech, he went to work in the computer gaming field for a company that developed video games such as Adventures of Tron, Armor Ambush, Astrosmash, and Space Attack. He later went to work for the PGP Corporation with whom he remained until his retirement in 2011. 

Chaum is known as a pioneer in cryptography and privacy-preserving technologies and widely recognized as the inventor of digital cash. His 1982 dissertation "Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups is the first known proposal for a blockchain protocol. Complete with the code to implement the protocol, Chaum's dissertation proposed all but one element of the blockchain later detailed in the Bitcoin whitepaper.

Tim May worked for Intel and was most noted for resolving the "alpha particle problem". Tim May was one of the founding fathers of the Cypherpunk movement. Tim May is well known for writing "The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto".

Eric Hughes is an American mathematician, computer programmer, and cypherpunk. He is one of the founders of the cypherpunk movement. Eric Hughes is well known for coining the motto"Cypherpunks write code".

Dr. Adam Back was one of the first two people to receive an email from Satoshi Nakamoto. In 1997, Dr. Adam Back invented Hashcash. A similar system is used in Bitcoin. 

John Gilmore is known as one of the co-founders of the original cypherpunks meetups. John Gilmore wrote the Bootstrap Protocol in 1985, which evolved into Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Owner of one of the oldest running domains on the internet.