<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Does there exist a proper academic write up, defining the problem, that predates bitcoin?</strong></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Google ngrams shows the phrase being used as early as the 1970s but that is probably not in the context of digital currencies.</p>

<p>The earliest reference I could easily find is in several articles in "Advances in Cryptology - CRYPTO '93"  </p>

<p>For example in "Untraceable Off-Line Cash in Wallet with Observers" by Stefan Brands.</p>

<p>Since several articles mention double spending I expect the coinage of this phrase in this context is older than 1993.</p>

<p>However there were no mentions in CRYPTO '92.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-08T13:32:37.173Z
2019-05-08T13:51:14.460Z
2019-05-08T13:51:14.460Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>The Double-Spending problem is a variant of the Byzantine Generals Problem which has a nice write up by Lamport, Shostak and Pease. But who first coined/defined the specific Double-Spending problem? Or linked the BGP to the digital currency domain? Does there exist a proper academic write up, defining the problem, that predates bitcoin?</p>

<p>I searched for a bit and can only find write ups after Nakamoto's publication.</p>

<doublespend>
Who first defined/coined The Double-Spending Problem?
Johnstedt
# Who first defined/coined The Double-Spending Problem?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-08)

The Double-Spending problem is a variant of the Byzantine Generals Problem which has a nice write up by Lamport, Shostak and Pease. But who first coined/defined the specific Double-Spending problem? Or linked the BGP to the digital currency domain? Does there exist a proper academic write up, defining the problem, that predates bitcoin?

I searched for a bit and can only find write ups after Nakamoto's publication.

**Tags:** doublespend


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-05-08. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

> **Does there exist a proper academic write up, defining the problem, that predates bitcoin?**

Google ngrams shows the phrase being used as early as the 1970s but that is probably not in the context of digital currencies.

The earliest reference I could easily find is in several articles in "Advances in Cryptology - CRYPTO '93"

For example in "Untraceable Off-Line Cash in Wallet with Observers" by Stefan Brands.

Since several articles mention double spending I expect the coinage of this phrase in this context is older than 1993.

However there were no mentions in CRYPTO '92.


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