The Bitcoin (BTC) neighborhood is celebrating the anniversary of cypherpunk and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney’s publish on January 10, 2009, telling the world that he was working the Bitcoin node software program
“Operating Bitcoin,” Finney mentioned on X, previously often called Twitter. Finney was the recipient of the primary Bitcoin transaction on the community.
He was born on Might 4, 1956, and pursued a profession in pc science and cryptography, and was one of many first individuals to answer Satoshi Nakamoto’s publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper.
Satoshi despatched Finney 10 BTC, valued at over $900,500 at at present’s costs, and was additionally one of many earliest people in touch with Nakamoto, which has led to hypothesis that Finney is definitely Satoshi Nakamoto.
Sadly, Finney handed away in 2014 to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative neurological sickness that step by step breaks down motor capabilities. He was 58 years outdated.
The 2009 publish from Finney is now a core piece of Bitcoin lore, marking the earliest phases of the decentralized peer-to-peer digital money community.
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Is Hal Finney Satoshi? The hypothesis continues
In 2024, media community HBO aired a documentary collection titled Cash Electrical: The Bitcoin Thriller, which claimed to have found Nakamoto’s id.
The documentary spurred debate concerning the true id of Satoshi, with some arguing that Finney was Satoshi primarily based on his ability set, a number of revealed cryptography analysis papers, and being the primary particular person to obtain BTC from Satoshi.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a developer well-known for being the primary particular person to make use of BTC in a industrial transaction by sending 10,000 BTC for 2 pizzas, beforehand mentioned that Satoshi was not acquainted with Mac OS, Apple’s working system for computer systems.
Each Finney and his spouse owned Mac OS computer systems, in keeping with a 2010 on-line publish from Finney.
Jameson Lopp, co-founder of crypto custody firm Casa, additionally offered proof in 2023 casting doubt on Finney being Satoshi.
Finney ran a marathon race throughout a back-and-forth e-mail string between Satoshi and one other software program developer.
The final e-mail was despatched about two minutes earlier than Finney crossed the end line — decisive proof that Finney was not Satoshi, in keeping with Lopp.
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