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Chapter 316 The Future of Money

0073 is clearly a fanatical crypto-anarchist, and many of the people sitting here are like him, they are like followers of a religion, convinced that their theories are correct. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info the Holy Church

Seeing their words and deeds, Lin Hong couldn't help but think of what his teacher used to say when he was in a religion class at a Latin school: "In a sense, science is also a religion." ”

At this time, the large screen on the podium at the front of the conference hall was already lit up, and someone was already starting to debug the projector.

A middle-aged man with yellow hair walked up to the podium at this time, he was not wearing a mask.

No. 0073's speech also came to an end for a while, and when he saw the man, he exclaimed in a low voice, "It's Eric!" ”

"You know him?"

"You don't even know him?" 0073 glanced at Lin Hong very strangely, "He is the founder of cypherpunk, the cryptographer Eric who has left Intel." ”

Lin Hong, the name Eric, had seen it on the website before, but he hadn't seen the other party's photos, and now he knows his real appearance.

Eric connected a laptop to the computer on the podium, and the projector immediately showed the topics of today's conference - bit messenger and PGP encryption, electronic money, anonymous mail relay servers, and Diffie Heilman's key exchange paper.

(Great!) 0073 couldn't help but shout in surprise after seeing these topics, these topics are very concerned about him, he didn't expect to be able to see Eric this time, but also to hear such a meaningful technical speech, he couldn't help but be glad that he was lucky to come over this time, it would be a pity if he missed it.

Lin Hong was a little surprised to see the bit messenger appear on the agenda of this meeting, but then he was relieved.

The first is the speaking session, which has been arranged by the cypherpunk group to invite some of the more core crypto-anarchists to give speeches and publish the latest research results and theories. Templar

Lin Hong saw that the people who gave speeches on the stage did not wear masks, they all saw people with their true faces, the purpose of this may be because they have long been famous in the industry, and on the other hand, they may want to establish authority in this area, they are not afraid of getting into any trouble because of this, they are staunch supporters of code anarchism.

The first speaker was none other than Eric.

Dressed in a gray shirt, blue denim, and long blonde hair, he looks like a typical technician who doesn't care about his appearance.

He first reviewed some of the papers on cryptography, and then focused on a brief introduction to the development of cryptography since the dawn of computers.

These encryption technologies are the fastest developing, and the most widely used is public key cryptography, and the application software is represented by bit messenger and PGP encryption software.

Eric analyzed in detail the technical theory of the implementation of bit messenger, and he quoted the basic principle explanatory text that Lin Hong posted in the forum that year, and praised the author of the software, saying that it solved the most basic credit verification problem.

“…… Not only can the messages sent by A and B, who are chatting with each other online, be truly confidential, but also the messages they send will not be intercepted or modified. The use of public and private keys for authentication ensures that the message sent by A is indeed what he wants to send, and the information received by B cannot be sent or forged by C. This kind of peer-to-peer information transfer is a very great feature that solves the most basic trust problem. ”

Eric's principle of the Pitt Courier is highly respected.

"We already have plans to develop an electronic smart card similar to a credit card based on the Bit Messenger principle."

As soon as Eric's words fell, everyone present suddenly became in an uproar.

A lot of people mean what this represents.

"My God, is it possible that electronic money is coming?" 0073 exclaimed. Templar

Lin Hongdao: "What is the difference between this kind of smart card and a credit card? ”

Many people also have the same idea as Lin Hong.

Eric clearly expected this, and he continued: "The most important feature of this card is that it has a cryptographic chip inside that allows for an untraceable digital signature. Traditional credit cards, such as MasterCard, Visa, no matter where we spend money, buy a dress at a certain mall, or drink a cup of coffee at a café, the bank keeps a record of our spending. These consumption records are like a tracker, exposing our **......"

"Certain nasty businessmen may buy this information and then send us targeted advertising materials, or criminals with ulterior motives may also peek into the clues of the crime. However, using this kind of smart card can avoid this phenomenon, only the merchant and you know where you have spent it, and the third party does not know at all. ”

After Lin Hong listened, he also somewhat understood the principle of this card.

The purpose of the crypto chip is to verify the contact with the bank, as it ensures that the money in the card is real and has not been spent.

In this way, it is as if cash was used directly, which is both concealed and verifiable.

Although it sounded good, Lin Hong felt that there were no exciting features of this technology. Because these cards are equivalent to a prepaid recharge card, you still need to go to a special location to recharge, or you need to deal with the bank.

In the event of a war or other major disaster, the government or bank is decredited, and these cards remain invalid, just like paper money, completely useless.

Overall, of course, this is a progress in the means of payment that allows for a certain degree of anonymous transactions.

Next, Eric began to talk about PGP encryption software.

This software is a free crypto software designed by the cryptorebels themselves, written by Philip Zimmerman, who is one of the cypherpunks.

PGP stands for PrettyGoodPrivacy, which is an encryption technology that combines public-key encryption with traditional key encryption. It uses a pair of mathematically related keys, where the public key is used to encrypt the information and the private key is used to decrypt the information.

Like Bit Messenger, the PGP software is also developed based on the RSA public key cryptography algorithm.

The difference is that Bit Messenger encrypts messages from instant messengers, while PGP encrypts messages. It can be used to keep the user's email private to prevent unauthorized people from reading it, and it can also digitally sign the email so that the recipient can be confident that the email is from the real user.

The source code of this software is also open-source and free, making it accessible to all. It is also very popular on the Internet, and it is common to see such messages spreading on the Internet.

Lin Hong is also very familiar with this kind of software, because in the past, when they received tasks or performed tasks, they often used this software to encrypt them, so that they could contact their employers or headquarters by email.

Little did he know at the time that the PGP software was the work of a cypherpunk organization.

The emergence of this software has indeed brought a lot of convenience to people.

Of course, some of the people who have this need are the needs of commercial companies to protect trade secrets, while more people are used for communication and communication in illegal and criminal or gray industries.

Whether it's bit messenger or PGP, such software is disgusted and strongly opposed by national government agencies. They may try to slow down or stop the spread of these software and technologies.

After Eric, another crypto rebel, Andy, a balding man in his fifties with round-rimmed glasses, took the stage and focused on explaining the obstacles to the progress of crypto technology.

"There is no political element to technology, but when encryption technology develops to this stage, it will inevitably be linked to politics." "The government may want to ban the development of these technologies because they have good reasons to say that they threaten national security, and that drug traffickers and tax evaders will use these technologies to achieve their goals," Andy said. ”

"These situations do exist because these software make it very easy to leak state secrets and illegally obtained materials. Intelligence traffickers can easily sell and pass on information. Anonymous online marketplaces may even be home to outrageous assassinations and extortion...... However, these phenomena do not hinder the development of crypto-anarchism. Just as printing weakened the power of medieval guilds and changed the power structure of society, cryptography will fundamentally change the nature of corporations and the nature of government interference in economic transactions! ”

……

"With our efforts, this day will come sooner or later!"

Andy finally ended his speech on an impassioned note, to the enduring applause of the attendees.

The staff then began to set up a few couches on the podium, and a cypherpunk figure sat on it, and two other invited guests, a mathematician and a professor of finance at New York University.

They started a small discussion on the topic of electronic money.

In fact, telephone banking and online banking have appeared during this period, and the emergence of bank debit and credit cards can also be called a form of electronic money.

However, these crypto rebels clearly do not like these so-called electronic money. In their opinion, these things are not real electronic money at all.

The aforementioned smart card is one example of their experimentation, and they are using their influence to actively promote the application of these technologies in their lives.

In their discussion and outlook for the future of electronic money, smart cards are just an alternative to credit cards, and they don't think that this is electronic money.

The electronic money of the future should be a real currency, which does not even require the participation of the bank, and is completely a first-class system, which can be paid anytime and anywhere without the help of any hardware.

Lin Hong sat quietly in his seat, listening to them brainstorming on the podium, and some trivial inspirations kept churning in his mind, and an idea gradually took shape in his mind from vague to clear.