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<div class="pre" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; font-family: monospace"><br /> <br /> As many of you probably know, the Lesser Antilles [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Antilles" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">1</a>] in the Caribbean<br /> were battered this week by Hurricane Irma, one of, if not, the most<br /> powerful storms to hit the Caribbean. Barbuda was essentially<br /> annihilated (90% of building damaged or destroyed). Anguilla, a country<br /> of only 11,000, hasn't fared too well either [<a href="https://www.caribjournal.com/2017/09/10/latest-anguilla-irma/#" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">2</a>]. <br /> <br /> What some, but not all, in the Financial Cryptography/crypto-currency<br /> community may not know is that Anguilla was home to the first [<a href="http://ifca.ai/fc97/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">3</a>] and<br /> several subsequent International Financial Cryptography Conferences from<br /> 1997. The association, IFCA, still bears that legacy with the TLD of<br /> .ai, ifca.ai [<a href="http://ifca.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">4</a>]. The paper presented at IFCA conference and the<br /> discussions held by many of its participants paved the ground for Tor,<br /> Bitcoin and the crypto-currency revolution. Eventually, the conference<br /> had grown to big for this tiny island. <br /> <br /> More directly, two of the founders of this conference, Bob Hettinga [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hettinga" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">5</a>]<br /> and Vince Cat [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Cate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">6</a>]e, currently live on Anguilla. While they have since<br /> separated from IFCA, their early evangelism was instrumental in the<br /> robust, thriving and important work developed at the conferences<br /> throughout the years. Bob and Vince were both directly affected by the<br /> hurricane, though not their spirit. <br /> <br /> Continued .... <a href="http://privacymaverick.com/?p=411" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">http://privacymaverick.com/?p=411</a> <br /> <br /> Jason <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Links:<br /> ------<br /> [1] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Antilles" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Antilles</a><br /> [2] <a href="https://www.caribjournal.com/2017/09/10/latest-anguilla-irma/#" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://www.caribjournal.com/2017/09/10/latest-anguilla-irma/#</a><br /> [3] <a href="http://ifca.ai/fc97/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">http://ifca.ai/fc97/</a><br /> [4] <a href="http://ifca.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">http://ifca.ai/</a><br /> [5] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hettinga" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hettinga</a><br /> [6] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Cate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Cate</a><br /> </div>
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