Trafficked illegal code that won the Crypto War, Invented Proof-of-Work before the age of 30.

inspired bitcoin $BTC

1/ A PhD student, Adam Back was just 25 when he started experimenting with cryptography.

He wanted to shift the balance of power

He saw it as a tool for promoting rights and undermining oppressive governments ✊

2/ Adam quickly joined the Cypherpunk Mailing List

The forum was already a cultural force.

The cypherpunks were fighters for freedom and privacy in the face of digital rights abuses 👏

3/ Adam was soon swapping emails with legends.

Tim May. Hal Finney. Zooko Wilcox. Perry Metzger.

Here’s Adam discussing how he compiled his own source for PGP.

4/ Adam was no novice when it came to crypto.

Weeks later, he claimed a bounty issued by none other than Hal Finney.

The challenge? Hack into SSL's weak government-approved crypto 👏

5/ The 1990s was a dangerous time for cryptographers.

The US government wanted to ban it under weapons exporting laws.

Adam strategized with the cypherpunks on how best to attack and retaliate 👊

6/ Here’s Eric Hughes, author of the Cypherpunk Manifesto, describing the Crypto War

The US International Traffic In Arms regulator (ITAR) wanted to ban strong cryptography.

They wanted to spy on all communications ‼️

7/ Enter Phil Zimmerman, inventor of PGP

Zimmerman was sued by ITAR for using strong cryptography to encrypt emails.

Supporters like Adam believed the government was "making math illegal." 😡

8/ Adam fought back with code.

He created a web page that would distribute “illegal” cryptography.

Users would click a button and receive 1/700th of the code for PGP ✊

9/ Adam did his best to disrupt internet surveillance.

Here’s a tool he used that added flagged words like "terrorist" and "assassination" to his email signature.

The goal was to increase privacy and anonymity 👏

10/ Adam’s big contribution was the ‘Munitions T-Shirt.’

A symbol of civil disobedience, it contained 3 lines of code – the very cryptography the US was trying to ban

This SHIRT violated weapons exporting laws.

11/ Adam sold the Munitions T-shirt globally.

The concept went viral, with shirts printed in new languages. He even sold the shirts for Digicash!

The shirt was on the BBC and featured in magazines.

12/ Cypherpunks the world over wanted to send a message – no government could stop speech.

People even got tattoos of the banned code.

13/ The cypherpunks were impressed.

Here’s a post where Tim May talks about how he saw Adam wearing his Munitions T-shirt in the US.

He notes Adam’s act of protest could have got him arrested! 👏

14/ With Adam’s help, the Cypherpunks won the crypto war

ITAR’s authority over cryptography was ended.

Export regulations were relaxed, and cryptography became legal to use in the US and abroad.

15/ Adam wasn’t content with the victory.

He wanted to realize the ultimate cypherpunk dream – an anonymous digital cash.

His next invention? An e-currency called Hashcash

15/ Announced in 1997, Hashcash was a breakthrough.

A digital cash could now be backed with computing resources, not a conventional currency.

But there was a missing piece – Adam couldn’t figure out how to solve the double spend problem.. 🤔

16/ Adam kept working on e-cash through the 2000s.

This work can still be found on his website, where he tracked advances in crypto privacy and scalability.

He even consulted on e-cash for giants like Nokia 🤯

17/ Finally, in 2008, Adam received a mysterious email.

From the unknown Satoshi Nakamoto, it heralded a new approach to a decentralized money.

Satoshi called the concept #bitcoin

18/ Today, Adam is one of the few cypherpunks dedicating his life to #Bitcoin.

He's called the code a new "wonder of the world."

He believes $BTC will be worth over $1 million ✨

THAT'S IT FOR TODAY.