Adam Back
Born 1970 · Age 55
British cryptographer, cypherpunk, inventor of Hashcash, co‑founder and CEO of Blockstream; major contributor to early digital cash research and Bitcoin ecosystem.
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Life & Career Timeline
First computer: Sinclair ZX81; taught himself BASIC
Early introduction to computing; taught himself BASIC and reverse-engineered video games and software.
Completed A‑levels (advanced maths, physics, economics)
Finished secondary education with A‑levels in advanced mathematics, physics and economics (citation needed in sources).
PhD awarded (University of Exeter) — thesis published
Completed a PhD in computer science (distributed systems). Thesis: 'Parallelization of general purpose programs using optimistic techniques from parallel discrete event simulation'.
Began working as cryptography consultant
After graduation he worked as a consultant for startups and larger companies in applied cryptography, writing libraries and analysing protocols.
Presented Hashcash (proof‑of‑work) publicly
Presented 'Hashcash - a denial of service counter-measure' to the cypherpunk community; later cited by Satoshi as inspiration for Bitcoin's PoW.
Eternity‑USENET paper co‑presented (censorship‑resistant publishing)
Co‑presented 'Eternity‑USENET' with Ross Anderson – a design for censorship‑resistant information publishing using cryptography.
Non‑transferable PGP signatures paper
Published 'Non-transferable signatures using PGP' (with Ian Brown), improving PGP signature properties.
Architect/cryptographer role at Zero‑Knowledge Systems
Worked on the Freedom network at Zero‑Knowledge Systems (precursor work to Tor); acted as an architect/cryptographer and consultant to other firms.
Freedom 2.0 Mail System announced
Presented 'Freedom 2.0 Mail System' — a design for a privacy‑focused email system.
Munitions / 'export' T‑shirt protest (cryptography export regs)
Promoted ultra‑compact code and printed 'munitions' T‑shirts to protest U.S. cryptography export restrictions; part of cypherpunk activism.
Consultancy work for Nokia (mobile e‑payments project)
Consulted (while at/around Zero‑Knowledge Systems) on a project to integrate electronic payments with mobile phones for Nokia (source reporting; date approximate).
Implemented 'credlib' credential library
Implemented credlib, a library to support credential systems (Brands/David Chaum style) built on OpenSSL.
Freedom mail system review and updates published
Published a review/corrections of the original Freedom 2.0 Mail System with updated security considerations.
Described 'non‑interactive forward secrecy' for email
First to describe non‑interactive forward secrecy property for email and showed identity‑based encryption can provide it.
Presented 'Onion' anonymous tunnelling concept (predecessor to Tor)
Presented 'Onion', a design for anonymous connection tunnels to hide IP addresses – an antecedent to later Tor research.
Launched 'Cypherspace' website
Published and launched cypherspace.org, a hub for cryptography/privacy projects and mailing‑list discussions.
Received early email contact from Satoshi Nakamoto
Adam Back was one of the first two people to receive an email from Satoshi Nakamoto about Bitcoin in late 2008; he corresponded and referred Satoshi to Wei Dai.
Adam Back's Hashcash cited in Bitcoin whitepaper
Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin whitepaper (Oct 2008) cites Hashcash as inspiration for Bitcoin's proof‑of‑work/time‑stamping mechanism.
Satoshi informed Back Bitcoin was launched (email sequence ends)
In the final email of the known sequence (10 Jan 2009) Satoshi tells Back Bitcoin had been launched.
Co‑founded Blockstream
Co‑founded Blockstream, a blockchain technology company focused on Bitcoin infrastructure, sidechains and developer tools.
Served as President/COO at Blockstream (early period)
Held executive roles at Blockstream (president/COO) before later becoming CEO.
Prototype of Liquid sidechain and Elements project
Blockstream prototyped the Liquid Network (a Bitcoin sidechain) and published Elements (the sidechain platform) as part of R&D.
Financial Times named Back as a Satoshi Nakamoto candidate
Financial Times (May 2016) listed Adam Back among possible candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto.
Appointed CEO of Blockstream (PR announced Oct 3, 2016)
Blockstream announced Dr. Adam Back as CEO on 3 October 2016 (company press release).
Liquid Network public launch
The Liquid Network (Blockstream's Bitcoin sidechain for exchanges and traders) moved from prototype to wider rollout; described as publicly launched in 2018.
Blockstream satellite broadcasts Bitcoin blockchain from space
Blockstream expanded its satellite service to broadcast the Bitcoin blockchain, enabling offline reception; covered in press (Forbes Dec 17, 2018).
Reported Blockstream fundraising (approx. $90M from VC firms)
Sources report Blockstream secured venture funding totaling around $90M from investors including Digital Currency Group and Khosla (timing aggregated across rounds; year approximate).
Interview 'Proof of Work' (YouTube) published
Appeared in a recorded interview/discussion focused on proof‑of‑work and Bitcoin (YouTube; referenced by sources).
YouTube/Barely Sociable claimed Back = Satoshi; Back denied
A YouTube video (Barely Sociable) alleged Adam Back was Satoshi Nakamoto; Back publicly denied the claim.
Craig Wright legal action and dispute (suit referencing claims of Nakamoto identity)
Craig S. Wright sued individuals claiming they defamed him for denying his claim to be Satoshi; Wright sued Adam Back for statements that Wright was not Nakamoto; Wright later dropped the suit (dates of filing/dropping across 2019–2020 in coverage).
Liquid Network dev libraries and ecosystem progress (mid‑2020)
Liquid gained developer tools (first general‑purpose JS library reported in July) and apps; decentralized exchange on Liquid opened early access in September (both referenced in company/press coverage around 2020).
Blockstream Series B / valuation reported
During a Series B round (reported 2021) Blockstream was reported valued at approximately $3.2 billion (press coverage; valuation cited by Bitstamp profile).
Published 2008 emails with Satoshi in legal proceedings
As part of litigation and related proceedings (Craig Wright cases), Back released the 2008 emails between him and Satoshi Nakamoto for the first time; the emails end 10 Jan 2009.
UK court ruled Craig Wright in contempt of court (context of litigation)
High‑profile litigation involving Craig Wright produced contempt rulings and related publicity in 2024; Back was involved in filing/releasing evidence during proceedings.
Recognised as a founding figure of modern cryptocurrency
Widely recognised (in press and academic texts) alongside Wei Dai, David Chaum and Hal Finney as a pioneer of early digital cash research for Hashcash and other contributions.
Bitstamp profile and summary published (profiled career and email release)
Bitstamp published a long form 'Who is Adam Back?' profile summarising Back's career, Blockstream role and the 2008 email release (published Jan 16, 2025 web article date).
Profiled in CoinPaper 'Pioneering Innovations' feature
CoinPaper published an in‑depth profile of Adam Back summarising his early life, Hashcash invention and Blockstream leadership (April 10, 2025).
AAE Speakers profile updated; speaking fee range listed
All American Entertainment updated Adam Back's speaker profile (31 May 2025) listing live/virtual speaking fee range $10,000–$20,000.
Ongoing Blockstream leadership and public advocacy for Bitcoin
Continues as CEO of Blockstream, promoting satellite/mesh backups for Bitcoin, sidechains (Liquid/Elements) and Bitcoin Core contributions; company continues to provide mining colo and satellite services.
Key Achievement Ages
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