Wei Dai (Chinese: 戴维) is a computer engineer known for contributions to cryptography and cryptocurrencies. He developed the Crypto++ cryptographic library, created the b-money cryptocurrency system, and co-proposed the VMAC message authentication algorithm. The smallest subunit of Ether, the wei, is named after him
Education and career
Dai graduated from the University of Washington[when?] with a degree in computer science[2] and is described as an "intensely private computer engineer".[3] Wei Dai was member of the Cypherpunks, Extropians, and SL4 mailing lists in the 1990s. On SL4 he exchanged with people such as Eliezer Yudkowsky, Robin Hanson, Nick Bostrom, and others in the nascent "rationalist" community.
Crypto++
In June 2015 Dai stepped away from the Crypto++ project[clarification needed] to work on other projects. Crypto++ is now maintained by the Crypto++ community.[8]
VMAC
VMAC is a block cipher-based message authentication code (MAC) algorithm using a universal hash proposed by Ted Krovetz and Wei Dai in April 2007. The algorithm was designed for high performance backed by a formal analysis.[9][non-primary source needed]
b-money
In 1998, Dai helped to spark interest in cryptocurrencies[10] with the publication of "b-money, an anonymous, distributed electronic cash system".[11][non-primary source needed] In the paper, Dai outlines the basic properties of all modern day cryptocurrency systems: "...a scheme for a group of untraceable digital pseudonyms to pay each other with money and to enforce contracts amongst themselves without outside help".
