Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn

Zooko has more than 20 years of experience in open, decentralized systems, cryptography and information security, and startups.

Wilcox-O'Hearn is an accomplished designer of multiple network protocols that include self-contained economies and secure reputation systems. He played a key role in the development of ZRTP and the BLAKE2 cryptographic hash function. Zooko has worked as a developer on various P2P systems, including MojoNation and Mnet, and as a developer at SimpleGeo.

Wilcox-O'Hearn has been involved in the development of several cryptocurrency projects, including working with David Chaum on the first cryptocurrency, DigiCash, in 1996. He is also a founding member of the anonymous cryptocurrency Zcash, and currently serves as the CEO of the Electric Coin Company, an affiliated company. Wilcox-O'Hearn commissioned a study by the Rand Corporation to investigate whether anonymous coins were more frequently involved in criminal transactions; the study found no evidence to support this claim.

Additionally, Wilcox-O'Hearn co-created Blake3, a cryptographic hash function. He was the founder and CEO of Least Authority Enterprises, and currently serves as an advisor to the company.

He is recognized for his work on DigiCash, Mojo Nation, ZRTP, “Zooko's Triangle”, Tahoe-LAFS, BLAKE2, and SPHINCS. He is also the Founder of Least Authority. He sometimes blogs about health science.