Cypherpunk is a movement that began in the late 1980s, centered on the use of cryptography as a tool to protect privacy and promote individual liberty. The goal of the cypherpunk movement is to make mass surveillance, censorship, and oppressive government control impossible by promoting the use of strong encryption and other privacy-enhancing technologies. Cypherpunk activists also advocate for the promotion of decentralized networks and technologies such as cryptocurrency, blockchain, and distributed computing.
Cypherpunk is an informal movement of computer scientists, cryptographers, and activists who advocate for the widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change. They strive to achieve this through the development of technologies such as digital cash, anonymous networks, and digital signatures. The cypherpunk movement is largely credited with the development of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.