In the late 1990s, there was a mailing list called cypherpunks that was popular within a small niche community of cryptography enthusiasts but the mailing list became a popular tool with mail bombers who would sign up people without their permission as a form of a prank. From there, the groups started to splinter.
Around the turn of the century, the group split into parts where coderpunks became a group specifically about programming, and those of us that were more interested in cryptography became known as cryptopunks.
