^^ This one, specially Wei Dai's b-money.
You can also read email correspondence between the two here,
Wei Dai/Satoshi Nakamoto 2009 Bitcoin emails.
So obviously, Satoshi just take it to the next level and was very successful as compare to its predecessors.
Mr. Dai is one of the most mysterious people behind Bitcoin. His lack of public appearances has lead some to speculate he might actually be (maybe part of) the personality behind satoshi.
His Wikipedia article reveals he's a
bachelor of Science degree from the University of Washington in computer science, with a minor in mathematics. while from there we can see he was also quoted saying when asked about b-money's connection with bitcoin. :
...my understanding is that the creator of Bitcoin, who goes by the name Satoshi Nakamoto, didn't even read my article before reinventing the idea himself. He learned about it afterward and credited me in his paper. So my connection with the project is quite limited.
(Source) It just fascinates me how this person fell out of the spotlight so much while others that received a mention by satoshi are taking advantage of titles like "founding fathers of bitcoin". And I'm not trying to discredit anyone, their work is of the utmost excellence, but to contrast the difference:
Adam Back is the founder and CEO of blockcstream, being a keynote speaker at conferences and promoting products and services from his company.
Scott Stornetta appears in crypto-related conferences representing Yugen Partners
Stuart Haber is still involved with developing and promoting commercial solutions related to blockchain after the blockchain boom.
Honorable mention although not mentioned in bitcoin's whitepaper, David Chaum, often referred to as the inventor of of e-cash, has made a comeback to crypto with his new venture: Praxxis.
[.. snip .. ]
I'm not really sure if that is Mr. Dai himself, interesting to note that that the author uses the name Satoshi Nakamoto. He just disappear, or just wanted to remain out of the spotlight. But yes, he should be given credit as a precursor to bitcoin. There is a interesting interview with him in 2014,
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YdfpDyRpNyypivgdu/aalwa-ask-any-lesswronger-anything#TLvSTxuypiHBuoCLM
