Lesson 1 / 4 · 9 min · take your time
Crypto meant cryptography first
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Crypto meant cryptography first
For a long time, crypto meant hiding and proving messages — cryptography — not a . Cypherpunk mailing lists, Chaum’s digital-cash work, Hashcash as anti-spam: those sat in papers before anyone treated a coin like a on this board. If a pitch uses the older word to bless a new , they borrowed a lab coat.
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For a long time, crypto meant hiding and proving messages — cryptography — not a . Cypherpunk mailing lists, Chaum’s digital-cash work, Hashcash as anti-spam: those sat in papers before anyone treated a coin like a on this board. If a pitch uses the older word to bless a new , they borrowed a lab coat.
DigiCash and other attempts tried electronic cash with a company in the middle. Some died as companies die. That is a business history. It is not a reason to buy a new with a similar name, and it is not a reason to hate every company. Middlemen fail. So do rooms with no middle and a bug.
When someone says “crypto” now, : encryption, or a coin ? Mixing them is how a pitch steals the older word. We will keep the older word honest. We will still not tell you to buy a coin.
Human: the first time you hear “trustless,” notice how much trust is still required — in software, in a desk, in your own hands. The joke writes itself. Then we get back to the record.
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