1/ Privacy is essential to human creativity. A thread...

The first Jean-Michel Basquiat painting ever sold was bought for $200 and signed with the alias SAMO.

Who was SAMO? And how did their work impact a young Basquiat? 2/ In 1978, not far from where I grew up, provocative graffiti from the pseudonymous SAMO began appearing around the Lower East Side.

The street art employed subversive tones, targeting established art institutions with messages like “SAMO FOR THE SO-CALLED AVANT-GARDE.”

1/ In the 1990s, the Cypherpunks anticipated the promise and perils of the Internet. They knew centralized entities would be tempted to abuse its power.

Let’s journey back in time to explore why the Cypherpunks are important to those of us building Web3. A quick 🧵… 2/ Cypherpunks saw that nascent information tech had both the power to set us free and create an Orwellian society 👀

As a response, they built tools to address the likelihood bureaucracies would become more powerful and less accountable in the digital age.

1/ When I was young and first learning to code, I would marvel at stories of the open Internet and the creative freedoms it provided✌️.

I idolized the Builders who made it a reality and the #Cypherpunks who helped protect our online freedoms. 2/ Unfortunately, the “free” centralized platforms we’ve come to rely on are corrupted by the power and data they’ve accumulated.

They exploit us, subverting the very values that first helped them flourish. Our oasis is under threat.