Timothy C. May, author of the Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, has passed away.

Timothy C. May was a co-founder of the Cypherpunks and an influential crypto-anarchist, whose writings helped shape the vision of the "Libertarian in Cyberspace" being built upon every day. Rest in Peace. SNI proudly hosts a number of his essays here: https://t.co/UIYqT0pMyD pic.twitter.com/fB9MkZhrSB — Nakamoto Institute (@NakamotoInst) December 15, 2018

In a Facebook post, Lucky Green, one of the earliest contributors to the Tor project, said: “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, i..e. Tim did not die in a hail of bullets as so many who didn’t know Tim all that well and largely from his public writings had predicted.”

“I can say without qualification that I would not be working in my field today if it hadn’t been for my meeting and becoming friends with Tim May,” he added.

May’s assertion that any manifesto, constitution or bill of rights wasn’t worth the paper it was written on absent a broadly armed (and heavily armed) population left many of his critics and admirers alike confused, Green continued.

“As with so many of his assertions, Tim was correct in this analysis, though his assertion that “private ownership of firearms is a public good” will likely not be as soon widely accepted as his assertion that “private ownership of strong crypto is a public good” was. As such, Tim leaves behind a very large firearms collection.”