Before Bitcoin was code, it was a philosophy.
And no one captured that philosophy more clearly—or more fearlessly—than Timothy C. May.
A former physicist at Intel turned radical thinker, Tim May predicted the rise of encrypted, borderless money years before Satoshi ever wrote a line of code.
His 1988 Crypto Anarchist Manifesto became the blueprint for a movement—one that continues today through Bitcoin and beyond.
The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto
In just a few short paragraphs, Tim May’s manifesto laid out a vision:
- A world where strong cryptography enables private, untraceable communication and commerce.
- A world where governments lose the ability to control information, taxes, and money.
- A world where individuals transact freely, outside of state surveillance.
“Just as the technology of printing altered and reduced the power of medieval guilds and the social power structure,” he wrote, “so too will cryptologic methods fundamentally alter the nature of corporations and of government interference in economic transactions.”
It was more than prediction—it was a revolutionary declaration.
Founding the Cypherpunks
Tim May co-founded the Cypherpunks mailing list in the early 1990s alongside Eric Hughes and John Gilmore.
The list became a hotbed of ideas that directly led to Bitcoin, including:
- Digital cash (DigiCash, b-money, Bit Gold)
- Anonymity networks
- Proof-of-work and digital signatures
- Voluntary digital law
Satoshi Nakamoto would later post on a descendant of this list—bringing Tim May’s vision full circle.
May’s Influence on Bitcoin
Tim May didn’t write Bitcoin’s code—but he wrote its cultural DNA.
He warned of the dangers of surveillance states, centralised control of money, and overreaching regulation. He championed sovereignty through encryption.
Bitcoin isn’t just a financial tool.
It’s a weapon of peaceful resistance.
And no one made that clearer than Tim May.
A Rebel to the End
Tim May passed away in 2018.
He never softened his stance. He remained wary of KYC, government control, and the infiltration of crypto by what he called “regulatory capture.”
He never wanted permission.
He wanted freedom.
“The State will of course try to slow or halt the spread of this technology, citing national security concerns… but the technology will spread over the globe, and with it, the seeds of the destruction of the State.”
– Timothy C. May, Crypto Anarchist Manifesto (1988)
Tim May wasn’t a coder. He was a catalyst.
And Bitcoin is, in many ways, the realisation of his radical prophecy.