Nick Szabo

Nick Szabo

Nick Szabo, a computer scientist, legal scholar, and cryptographer, developed the phrase and concept of “smart contracts”, popularised by Ethereum. This builds upon the early work of the cypherpunks in digital privacy and liberty, extending it not only to decentralised currency (Bitcoin) but also to decentralised computation in Ethereum and similar smart-contract blockchains. The cypherpunk vision of every citizen being able to communicate privately and hold decentralised currency gives birth to every citizen now being able to engage in decentralised finance with that currency. This challenges the state-controlled banking system introduced by President Nixon in the 1970s, the Bank Secrecy Act.