On 15th December, a Facebook post by Cypherpunk Lucky Green announced the passing of Tim May, presumably from natural causes.
The post states:
"Word has reached me that my dear friend, co-conspirator in many things and for many years, fellow Freedom Fighter Tim May passed away earlier this week at his home in Corralitos, California. Death appears to be from natural causes pending autopsy."
Tim May published the Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, in which he seemed to predict the government's stance against privacy based, encrypted cryptocurrency. He wrote:
These developments will alter completely the nature of government regulation, the ability to tax and control economic interactions, the ability to keep information secret, and will even alter the nature of trust and reputation."
According to the manifesto published in 1992, a technology will soon exist that would enable users to transact and interact online in a completely anonymous manner, which would lead to a "financial and social revolution". The manifesto states that the technology may have existed in theory since 1982 and goes on to say that the government and related authorities would try to slow down the mass spread of this technology citing concerns such as drug dealing, illegal and criminal transactions, and tax evasion.
Even as the manifesto warned against government resistance, May agreed with many of the concerns being possibly valid. He reportedly agreed that certain illegal groups and activities may take advantage of the anonymous nature of this exchange.
Earlier this year, Timothy May had stated that Bitcoin may be failing its creators since the cryptocurrency has launched deeper into the mainstream and falling away from the "ideology" of the creators.
Bitcoin has recently been in the news for market fluctuations as well as privacy concerns. Leading cypherpunks and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden believe that "Bitcoin has become too successful"
While the widely know Bitcoin suffers from reported privacy lapses, the future of cryptocurrency seems secure. Snowden states:
"Yet the hard truth is that the only thing that gives cryptocurrencies value is the belief of a large population in their usefulness as a means of exchange … As long as there are people out there who want to be able to move money without banks, cryptocurrencies are likely to be valued.”