Did Milton Friedman Predict Cryptocurrencies?

Milton Friedman is one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, and his ideas still influence policy-makers from all around the liberal world. Given his godlike status among the libertarian-minded and anarchic capitalist supporters, the American economist often gets credited for concepts that he didn't quite invent. And given the fact that YouTube hosts a 1999 interview of him in which he describes the internet as a mean for sending anonymous payments, lots of crypto fans have speculated that Milton Friedman could have influenced Satoshi Nakamoto himself and helped create Bitcoin.

Since there is a popular Reddit thread about the issue and many users believe in the entire Friedman as cryptocurrency founding father narrative, I've decided to research on the topic and see which inventions and major discoveries in cryptography and computer science led to the creation of Satoshi. My discoveries point out to a different reality: Bitcoin is the culmination of many other advancements which date back to 1983. In reality, the likes of David Chaum, Adam Back, Cynthia Dwork, Moni Naor, and Wei Dai are the ones who deserve all the credit for their groundbreaking work.

It's very likely that Mr. Friedman, being associated with some of the most prestigious universities, has learned about the latest cryptographic innovations and spoke about them as a well-informed academic. However, he might have influenced the political and economic thought of cypherpunks and legitimized their actions.

If you'd like to learn more about the inventions that led to the creation of Bitcoin, read my latest CryptoGlobe article: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/04/did-milton-friedman-predict-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrencies/