Stuart Haber: Blockchain Co-Creator Ahead of His Time

Stuart and Scott's article “How to Timestamp a Digital Document” is a seminal work that had a profound impact on the cryptocurrency industry. They were awarded the Discover Prize in Computer Software for this groundbreaking research in 1992.

Their research aimed to create digital data that is publicly accessible yet impossible to alter, using encryption techniques. They proposed a mechanism for generating timestamps to ensure records integrity and prevent information manipulation in the future. 

Haber and Stornetta recognized that digital records could be easily altered without detection, while global digitization was becoming more prevalent. They sought to develop a solution to ensure digital documents' integrity and preservation, leading to blockchain. 

However, the widespread adoption of their invention was hindered by the limited development of the internet in the 1990s. During this time, bandwidth and memory capacity were insufficient, and people were still impressed by having multiple email addresses.  

Furthermore, the scientists initially focused on data immutability for document flow within individual companies. At that time, it was difficult to promote the idea of a public ledger since information was not commonly shared in an open format. 

It was only after Satoshi Nakamoto used their development to create the blockchain and Bitcoin that the authors gained popularity. Haber and Stornetta became the most frequently cited experts in the Bitcoin Whitepaper. 

The evolution of a scientist

Stuart Haber was born in the United States in 1954. From a young age, he had a keen interest in mathematics, which was later supplemented by his passion for computer science and cryptography. Haber graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1978, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. He went on to defend his Master's thesis on “Provably Secure Multi-Party Cryptographic Computations” at Stanford University in 1982, and then received his Doctorate in Computer Science from Columbia University in 1987. 

Stuart Haber's career trajectory

Stuart Haber began his career in 1987 as a research scientist at Bell Communications Research (Bellcore). At that time, the company was working on the concept of zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-Proof), which was a completely new idea. The development of the concept was led by Silvio Micali, Shafi Goldwasser, and Charles Rackoff.

In 1989, Scott Stornetta joined Bellcore and became a friend and partner of Haber. Scott's musings led to immutable digital data. Therefore, in 1994, they founded their company, Surety Technologies, deploying the first blockchain, which is still operational today.

Prior to this, Haber was a consultant to various government agencies, including the US National Security Agency and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

What is Stuart Haber doing now?

Since 2018, Haber has been a member of the advisory board of blockchain company Kadena. He believes that this company has the potential to pioneer new and promising technologies. He also researches distributed ledger technology at the Blockchain Research Institute and as a scientific consultant for Digital Asset Holdings.