You won’t find him on a stage.
You won’t find him promoting coins or selling merch.
But Wei Dai’s name is immortalised in the very foundation of Bitcoin.
He is one of the few people Satoshi Nakamoto cited by name in the Bitcoin whitepaper. And for good reason.
Wei Dai’s 1998 proposal for b-money laid out many of the core principles Bitcoin would embody a decade later.
The b-money Proposal
In 1998, on the cypherpunk mailing list, Wei Dai published his concept for b-money—a decentralised, pseudonymous money system that:
- Used proof-of-work to mint coins
- Maintained a public ledger among participants
- Required no central authority or government oversight
Though b-money was never implemented, it laid out ideas that would reappear—nearly line for line—in Bitcoin:
- A system of unforgeable costliness (PoW)
- A decentralised ledger
- Privacy through pseudonyms
- Voluntary contracts enforced by software, not courts
Cited in the Bitcoin Whitepaper
Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 whitepaper contains a single sentence that changed everything:
“We shall refer to this as b-money, a scheme by Wei Dai…”
With that reference, Satoshi confirmed what many now accept: Bitcoin was not created in isolation. It was built on the shoulders of giants—and Wei Dai was one of the tallest.
A True Cypherpunk
Wei Dai’s interests spanned beyond digital money:
- He was an expert in cryptography, distributed systems, and anonymity protocols.
- He worked on Libertaria, a concept of society built entirely on voluntary cryptographic interaction.
- He contributed to crypto libraries like Crypto++, still in use today.
True to the cypherpunk ethos, he believed in privacy, personal sovereignty, and decentralised solutions to authoritarian problems.
A Legacy Without Ego
Wei Dai didn’t try to capitalise on Bitcoin’s rise.
He didn’t insert himself into debates, demand credit, or launch his own coin.
In fact, he was surprised when Satoshi referenced him—highlighting how long it had been since he’d written the b-money post.
In an age of hype and grift, Wei Dai remains a symbol of integrity and quiet impact.
Why Wei Dai Matters
Without b-money, there may never have been Bitcoin.
Without Wei Dai, the idea of anonymous, permissionless, digital money might have remained just a dream.
He was one of the first to envision money without masters—and for that, his place in Bitcoin history is forever secure.
“I am fascinated by the possibility of anonymous digital cash and how it could lead to a libertarian society.”
– Wei Dai