

How to Make a Mint: The Cryptography of Anonymous Electronic Cash (1997) - ethana
http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/aulr/vol46/iss4/6/

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nkurz
In case anyone is confused on why this 1996 paper would be making the rounds
on HN recently, it's because it's an official NSA publication that predates
Bitcoin. There have been persistent rumors (mostly from the tin-foil hat
wearers) that that NSA was involved in the creation of Bitcoin. While not
evidence of any sort, this paper lends a bit more credence to that belief.

Personally, (he says after checking that his hat is properly positioned to
block the rays) I think it's a story worth considering. The NSA has people on
staff with the skill to implement a cryptocurrency, and is one of the few
organizations capable of creating Satoshi Nakamoto from thin air without
making any major blunders so far. More info on the theory here:
[https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/nsa-
bitcoin-1996/](https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/nsa-bitcoin-1996/)

~~~
bravura
One wonders why, if the NSA were going to do this, they would publish on
crypto-currency first.

I didn't read the paper, but here's the last paragraph:

"In conclusion, the potential risks in electronic commerce are magnified when
anonymity is present. Anonymity creates the potential for large sums of
counterfeit money to go undetected by preventing identification of forged
coins. Anonymity also provides an avenue for laundering money and evading
taxes that is difficult to combat without resorting to escrow mechanisms.
Anonymity can be provided at varying levels, but increasing the level of
anonymity also increases the potential damages. It is necessary to weigh the
need for anonymity with these concerns. It may well be concluded that these
problems are best avoided by using a secure electronic payment system that
provides privacy, but not anonymity."

I'm not sure what to take from that. In any paper, you know that most people
will only read the intro and the conclusion.

~~~
exit
_> Anonymity creates the potential for large sums of counterfeit money to go
undetected by preventing identification of forged coins._

the blockchain solves the problem of forged coins.

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arthurcolle
[https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?...](https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1389&context=aulr)

