"Running bitcoin"
— First tweet about Bitcoin, January 11, 2009
Harold Thomas Finney II (May 4, 1956 – August 28, 2014) was a pioneering cryptographer and cypherpunk who played a crucial role in the early development of Bitcoin. He was the first person other than Satoshi Nakamoto to run the Bitcoin software and received the first Bitcoin transaction in history.
Before Bitcoin, Hal was already a legend in the cryptography community. He was the lead developer at PGP Corporation, where he worked on PGP 2.0 - the encryption software that would protect digital privacy for millions of people worldwide.
His 2004 creation, Reusable Proofs of Work (RPOW), is considered a direct precursor to Bitcoin's proof-of-work system. When Satoshi Nakamoto announced Bitcoin in 2008, Hal was one of the few who immediately recognized its potential.
Hal Finney received 10 BTC when Bitcoin was worth fractions of a cent. Today, those 10 BTC would be worth over $950,000.
000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f
2009-01-03 18:15:05 UTC
2,083,236,893
"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"
f4184fc596403b9d638783cf57adfe4c75c605f6356fbc91338530e9831e9e16
Satoshi Nakamoto
Hal Finney
10 BTC
2009-01-12 03:30:25 UTC
In January 2009, the entire Bitcoin network consisted of just two nodes: Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney. The orange line shows the first peer-to-peer transaction.
Experience how Bitcoin mining works. The miner must find a hash that starts with a specific number of zeros (difficulty). Hal Finney was one of the first Bitcoin miners.
Harold Thomas Finney II born on May 4, 1956 in Coalinga, California
Graduated from California Institute of Technology with engineering degree
Joined PGP Corporation as lead developer, worked on PGP 2.0 encryption
Became one of the founding members of the Cypherpunks mailing list
Created Reusable Proofs of Work (RPOW), a precursor to Bitcoin
January 11: Posted "Running bitcoin" - became first Bitcoin user after Satoshi
January 12: Received first Bitcoin transaction - 10 BTC from Satoshi Nakamoto
Helped Satoshi identify and fix early Bitcoin bugs, improved the protocol
Publicly revealed diagnosis with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)
Passed away on August 28, 2014. Body preserved through cryonics at Alcor
"Bitcoin seems to be a very promising idea. I like the idea of basing security on the assumption that the CPU power of honest participants outweighs that of the attacker."
"I thought I'd write about the last four years, an eventful time for Bitcoin and me.
For those who don't know me, I'm Hal Finney. I got my start in crypto working on an early version of PGP, working closely with Phil Zimmermann. When Phil decided to start PGP Corporation, I was one of the first hires. I would work on PGP until my retirement. At the same time, I got involved with the Cypherpunks. I ran the first cryptographically based anonymous remailer, among other activities.
Fast forward to late 2008 and the announcement of Bitcoin. I've noticed that cryptographic graybeards (I was in my mid 50's) tend to get cynical. I was more idealistic; I have always loved crypto, the mystery and the paradox of it.
When Satoshi announced Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, he got a skeptical reception at best. Cryptographers have seen too many grand schemes by clueless noobs. They tend to have a knee jerk reaction.
I was more positive. I had long been interested in cryptographic payment schemes. Plus I was lucky enough to meet and correspond with both Wei Dai and Nick Szabo, generally acknowledged to have created ideas that would be realized with Bitcoin. I had made an attempt to create my own proof of work based currency, called RPOW. So I found Bitcoin fascinating.
When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away. I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run bitcoin. I mined block 70-something, and I was the recipient of the first bitcoin transaction, when Satoshi sent ten coins to me as a test. I carried on an email conversation with Satoshi over the next few days, mostly me reporting bugs and him fixing them."
"And here I am, at the end of a good life, and I'm still in love with crypto. I can't believe I'm at this stage. It's been a wonderful journey."
His work on PGP encryption protects billions of emails and messages to this day
As the first Bitcoin user and tester, he helped shape the protocol we use today
His body is preserved at Alcor, hoping that future technology may one day revive him
One of the most persistent theories in cryptocurrency is that Hal Finney was Satoshi Nakamoto, or at least played a significant role in creating Bitcoin. Here's the evidence on both sides:
"Whether or not Hal was Satoshi, his contributions to Bitcoin and cryptography are undeniable and eternal."
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Hal Finney received the first Bitcoin transaction on January 12, 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto sent him 10 BTC as a test, which was included in Block #170.
Reusable Proofs of Work (RPOW) was a system created by Hal Finney in 2004. It used proof-of-work tokens that could be exchanged, making it a direct precursor to Bitcoin's mining system.
Hal Finney held onto his early-mined bitcoins until his death. His body was cryopreserved at Alcor Life Extension Foundation, and his bitcoins were left to his family.
On January 11, 2009, Hal Finney posted "Running bitcoin" on Twitter, making it one of the first public acknowledgments of Bitcoin and marking him as the first person to run the software besides Satoshi.
Hal Finney was the lead developer at PGP Corporation, where he worked on PGP 2.0 - the encryption software that revolutionized digital privacy and is still used today.
May 4, 1956 — August 28, 2014
"I'm comfortable with my legacy... the code I've written, the work I've done. I hope I've done more good than harm. In the end, it's all about what you leave behind, and I think the things I've created will outlive me."
— Hal Finney