Tim May's Crypto Anarchist Manifesto is More Relevant Than Ever

May predicted anonymous digital cash would erode state revenue. Reality: Privacy tech is a compliance battleground. Tornado Cash sanctions and MiCA regulations prove the state is fighting back, but protocols like Aztec and Monero continue to evolve.

• Key Reality: ~$10B+ in privacy-focused assets under constant regulatory pressure.
• Key Evolution: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) are becoming the new privacy frontier, enabling selective disclosure for compliance without full surveillance.

May foresaw the creation of untouchable digital jurisdictions. Reality: Smart contract platforms are the new frontier towns. DAOs like Arbitrum DAO and Optimism Collective govern $20B+ treasuries, creating de facto digital polities with their own laws (smart contract code).

• Key Reality: Jurisdictional arbitrage is standard practice for protocols (e.g., Solana Foundation in Switzerland).
• Key Evolution: The battle is over legal recognition, not technical existence. Wyoming's DAO LLC law is a first skirmish.

May argued trust would be cryptographic, not institutional. Reality: On-chain reputation is the killer app we're still building. Projects like Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS) and Gitcoin Passport are creating portable, verifiable credential graphs, but adoption is nascent.

• Key Reality: The Sybil attack problem remains the primary technical hurdle, consuming millions in grant funding (e.g., Optimism's RetroPGF).
• Key Evolution: Proof-of-Personhood protocols like Worldcoin and BrightID are direct attempts to fulfill this prediction, trading privacy for sybil-resistance.

The Problem: Transparent ledgers create permanent, linkable financial graphs, enabling surveillance and censorship. The Solution: Build privacy into the base layer. This isn't just about hiding amounts; it's about breaking data linkages.

• Key Benefit: Unbreakable financial sovereignty via zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) and stealth address systems.
• Key Benefit: Enables institutional and high-net-worth adoption by default, moving beyond pseudonymity.

The Problem: Centralized points of failure (CEXs, RPC providers, sequencers) are the new attack vectors for state intervention. The Solution: Architect for credible neutrality and unstoppable execution. This is a security model, not an ideology.

• Key Benefit: Systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum L1s have survived direct regulatory and technical attacks.
• Key Benefit: Drives infrastructure innovation in areas like decentralized sequencers (Espresso, Astria) and P2P networks.

The Problem: Relying on AWS, Cloudflare, or centralized oracles reintroduces the trusted third parties cryptography was meant to eliminate. The Solution: A vertically integrated, credibly neutral stack. Every layer must be permissionless and censorship-resistant.

• Key Benefit: Enables truly unstoppable applications, from Urbit (personal servers) to decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN).
• Key Benefit: Creates economic moats based on verifiable trustlessness, not branding or regulatory capture.

The Problem: Smart contracts are only as sovereign as their data inputs. Centralized oracles are a backdoor for manipulation and censorship. The Solution: Invest in and build decentralized oracle networks (DONs) with robust cryptoeconomic security.

• Key Benefit: Protocols like Chainlink and Pyth provide tamper-proof data feeds with $10B+ in secured value.
• Key Benefit: Enables complex, real-world DeFi and insurance products that execute autonomously without human adjudication.

The Problem: Users are trapped in walled gardens with poor terms of service and seizure risks. The Solution: Design for seamless, low-friction exit. This is the killer app for interoperability and intent-based architectures.

• Key Benefit: Bridges like LayerZero and intents frameworks (UniswapX, CowSwap) let users move value and execute trades across chains without custody.
• Key Benefit: Forces platforms to compete on merit, as users can leave at near-zero cost with their assets and data.

The Problem: Traditional governance (voting, committees) is slow, corruptible, and subject to regulatory coercion. The Solution: Hard-code incentive mechanisms that make desired behaviors (honesty, liveness) the most profitable strategy.

• Key Benefit: Proof-of-Stake slashing and MEV redistribution (e.g., Flashbots SUAVE) align validator and user interests.
• Key Benefit: Creates systems that are self-policing and resilient to external pressure, fulfilling the cypherpunk dream of algorithmic law.