David Chaum

David Chaum
David Chaum
	Chaum in 2022
Born	1955 (age 68–69)
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Occupations	Inventor; Cryptographer;
Known for	DigiCash; ecash; IACR; mixes; voting systems; Dining cryptographers protocol; Privacy Enhancing Technologies;
	Scientific career
Thesis	Computer Systems Established, Maintained, and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups (1982)
Doctoral advisor	Bernard Marcel Mont-Reynaud
Website	www.chaum.com

David Lee Chaum (born 1955) is an American computer scientist, cryptographer, and inventor. He 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.^[1] 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. He has been referred to as "the father of online anonymity",^[2] and "the godfather of cryptocurrency".^[3]

He is also known for developing ecash, an electronic cash application that aims to preserve a user's anonymity, and inventing many cryptographic protocols like the blind signature, mix networks and the Dining cryptographers protocol. In 1995 his company DigiCash created the first digital currency with eCash.^[4]^: 65–70 His 1981 paper, "Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms", laid the groundwork for the field of anonymous communications research.^[5]

^ Alan T. Sherman, Farid Javani, Haibin Zhang, Enis Golaszewski (January–February 2019). "On the Origins and Variations of Blockchain Technologies". IEEE Security & Privacy. 17 (1): 72–77. arXiv:1810.06130. doi:10.1109/MSEC.2019.2893730. S2CID 53114747.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Greenberg, Andy (January 6, 2016). "The Father of Online Anonymity Has a Plan to End the Crypto War". Wired Magazine. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
^ "Meet The Godfather Of Crypto, Who's Been Working On Digital Currency Since The Early 80s". Bloomberg News. May 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
^ Greenberg, Andy (2012). This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World's Information. Dutton Adult. ISBN 0525953205.
^ Danezis, George; Diaz, Claudia (January 2008) "Survey of Anonymous Communication Channels Archived 2023-05-19 at the Wayback Machine" PDF Archived 2023-05-19 at the Wayback Machine. Technical Report MSR-TR-2008-35. Microsoft Research; For the paper, see Chaum, David (1981). "Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms" (PDF). Communications of the ACM. 24 (2): 84–90. doi:10.1145/358549.358563. S2CID 30340230. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2019-09-24.

[Sherman_et_al.-1] Alan T. Sherman, Farid Javani, Haibin Zhang, Enis Golaszewski (January–February 2019). "On the Origins and Variations of Blockchain Technologies". IEEE Security & Privacy. 17 (1): 72–77. arXiv:1810.06130. doi:10.1109/MSEC.2019.2893730. S2CID 53114747.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[2] Greenberg, Andy (January 6, 2016). "The Father of Online Anonymity Has a Plan to End the Crypto War". Wired Magazine. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2022.

[3] "Meet The Godfather Of Crypto, Who's Been Working On Digital Currency Since The Early 80s". Bloomberg News. May 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2022-03-05. Retrieved 2022-03-05.

[Greenberg-4] Greenberg, Andy (2012). This Machine Kills Secrets: How WikiLeakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World's Information. Dutton Adult. ISBN 0525953205.

[5] Danezis, George; Diaz, Claudia (January 2008) "Survey of Anonymous Communication Channels Archived 2023-05-19 at the Wayback Machine" PDF Archived 2023-05-19 at the Wayback Machine. Technical Report MSR-TR-2008-35. Microsoft Research; For the paper, see Chaum, David (1981). "Untraceable Electronic Mail, Return Addresses, and Digital Pseudonyms" (PDF). Communications of the ACM. 24 (2): 84–90. doi:10.1145/358549.358563. S2CID 30340230. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2019-09-24.

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