HAL FINNEY was the very first recipient of a Bitcoin transaction and played a vital role in the creation of cryptocurrency.
But what is the story behind the Bitcoin pioneer and is he Satoshi Nakamoto?
Who was Hal Finney?
Hal Finney was an American software developer, best known for his early involvement in Bitcoin.
Born to Virginia and Harold on May 4, 1956, Finney grew up in California and attended the California Institute of Technology, studying engineering.
Upon graduation in 1979, he worked in video game development.
In 2005, the developer invented the first ever Reusable Proof-of-Work (RPOW), the mechanism that would go on to make cryptocurrency possible.
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RPOW is the protocol used to secure digital tokens and verify ownership. Four years later, in 2008, it was referenced in the white paper which set out the concept of Bitcoin.
Finney became one of the first people to get involved with Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto to help launch the cryptocurrency.
In November 2008 Finney became one of the few people who Nakamoto shared Bitcoin‘s code with, giving feedback and offering help to improve the token.
Then, on January 12 2009, the US computer scientist became the first person ever to receive a Bitcoin transaction.
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Nakamoto sent him 10 Bitcoins, with Finney then running tests to find and report any bugs.
Finney marked the moment on social media, writing the simple tweet: “Running bitcoin.”
He continued to play a major part in the early development of Bitcoin up until illness forced him to slowly reduce his level of involvement.
When was Hal Finney diagnosed with ALS?
Hal Finney was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in August 2009. The rare neurological condition impacts the nerves in the spinal cord and brain. It results in the slow loss of muscle control.
When did Hal Finney die?
Hal Finney died on August 28, 2014 after five years of living with ALS.
He died in Scottsdale, Arizona shortly after 9am before then being transported to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. The not-for-profit organisation performs cryonics – the freezing of human corpses with hopes of resurrecting them to full health in the future.
His body is now being stored in a -320 degrees Fahrenheit aluminum pod filled with 450 litres of liquid nitrogen.
That’s where he’ll remain until such time as we have technologies to repair the problems he had such as ALS and the ageing process,” said Max More, Alcor’s director at the time.
“And then we can bring Hal back happy and whole again.”
Hal made the decision to freeze his body upon his eventual death with his wife 20 years before he passed away.
Who is Hal Finney’s wife?
Hal Finney was married to Fran, a physical therapist. The couple had a son, Jason, and a daughter, Erin, together.
Since Hal’s death, Fran has sought to raise money for victims of ALS. Last December she announced a charity event encouraging Bitcoin users to run a half marathon.
The ALS Association Golden West Chapter is looking to raise funds by offering official T-shirts and rare Hal Finney collectibles for those taking part.
Also in December last year, Fran announced she intended to periodically post from her late husband’s Twitter account. Elon Musk had indicated he was considering deactivating accounts which were not actively being used.
“I am tweeting for Hal to avoid his account being purged by Elon,” Fran said in a tweet.
“I want to keep Hal’s account active, and occasionally will be posting from his account.
“When I do post, I will continue to tag myself as the poster.”
Is Hal Finney Satoshi Nakamoto and did he create Bitcoin?
Hal Finney always denied being the inventor of Bitcoin, but shortly before his death claims started to emerge that the software engineer was secretly Satoshi Nakamoto.
As well as being the creator of the Reusable Proof-of-Work upon which Bitcoin was based, and being one of the first people Nakamoto shared his cryptocurrency code with, Finney had an intriguing neighbour.
In 2014 it emerged that Finney lived just blocks away from a Japanese-American man named Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto.
At the same time, both Satoshi Nakamoto and Finney appeared to retire almost simultaneously. The former’s last email correspondence is dated April 26, 2011. The latter retired from the PGP Corporation in early 2011 due to his deteriorating health.
What was Hal Finney’s net worth?
It is unclear what Hal Finney’s net worth was when he died. However, it is thought to have been considerably less than would be expected given his early adoption of Bitcoin.
His wife Fran said shortly before his death that the couple had put a considerable amount of Bitcoin to one side as future funding for when needed.
Much of their savings in Bitcoin is thought to have been traded in order to pay for Finney’s medical care.
