{"id":14851,"date":"2021-08-28T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci028bbaf2700025a2"},"modified":"2021-08-28T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T13:00:00","slug":"bitcoin-hal-finney-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/bitcoin-hal-finney-memorial","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Bitcoin Pioneer Hal Finney (May 4, 1956 \u2013 August 28, 2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p>Seven years ago today, legendary computer programmer and recipient of the first-ever Bitcoin transaction Hal Finney passed away as a result of complications of ALS.<\/p>\n<p>Finney worked as a video game developer and then as a developer for PGP Corporation, an early public-key cryptography software provider. He was also an active member of the cypherpunks mailing list and, in 2004, created the world\u2019s first reusable-proof-of-work (RPOW) system, a variation on the proof-of-work system that would later define Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<p>But Finney is probably best remembered by Bitcoiners for his early insight into how revolutionary the project could be. As our Aaron van Wirdum <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/the-genesis-files-how-hal-finneys-quest-for-digital-cash-led-to-rpow-and-more\">reported last year<\/a>, Finney was one of the first members of the cryptography mailing list to recognize its potential.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBitcoin seems to be a very promising idea,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metzdowd.com\/pipermail\/cryptography\/2008-November\/014827.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he wrote in 2008<\/a>, responding to an email that Satoshi Nakamoto sent to the list sharing the Bitcoin white paper. \u201cI like the idea of basing security on the assumption that the CPU power of honest participants outweighs that of the attacker\u2026 I also do think that there is potential value in a form of unforgeable token whose production rate is predictable and can\u2019t be influenced by corrupted parties.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finney would go on to work regularly on the project, becoming one of the world\u2019s first Bitcoin miners, helping with technical contributions and, infamously, receiving the first Bitcoin transaction directly from Nakamoto.<\/p>\n<p>On January 10, 2009, Finney <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/halfin\/status\/1110302988\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tweeted<\/a> a simple message that has since become a favorite in the Bitcoin community, garnering more than 31,000 likes and 15,000 retweets to date: \u201cRunning bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Running bitcoin<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; halfin (@halfin) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/halfin\/status\/1110302988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 11, 2009<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Finney was diagnosed with ALS that year and the disease soon confined him to a wheelchair, ultimately paralyzing much of his body. Still, he used eye-tracking software to continue writing Bitcoin code.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube,\u201d Finney wrote on the <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcointalk.org\/index.php?topic=155054.msg1643833#msg1643833\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bitcointalk message board<\/a> on March 19, 2013, just 17 months before his death. \u201cIt\u2019s been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad\u2026 I still love programming and it gives me goals\u2026 I\u2019m comfortable with my legacy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Though Bitcoin has been designed as a system free from the influence of any single leader, Finney remains one of its most celebrated and revered individuals. His prescience, optimism and passion for creating a digital form of cash continue to inspire all of us who believe that when Bitcoin fixes money, it can fix the world.<\/p>\n<p><em>To celebrate Finney\u2019s legacy, we\u2019ve compiled <\/em>Bitcoin Magazine<em>\u2019s best stories about the trailblazing cryptographer. On this day, more than any other, it\u2019s worth remembering his contributions.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/the-genesis-files-how-hal-finneys-quest-for-digital-cash-led-to-rpow-and-more\">The Genesis Files: How Hal Finney\u2019s Quest For Digital Cash Led To RPOW (And More)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/hal-finney-salute-1409690363\">Hal Finney \u2014 We Salute You<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/running-bitcoin-a-sculpture-celebrating-hal-finneys-65th-birthday\">Running Bitcoin: A Sculpture Celebrating Hal Finney\u2019s 65th Birthday<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/our-hero-hal-fundraising-for-a-bitcoin-visionary\">Our Hero Hal: Fundraising For A Bitcoin Visionary<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/culture\/celebrating-a-pioneer-bitcoiners-will-runforhalfin\">Celebrating A Pioneer, Bitcoiners Will #RunForHalFin<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seven years ago today, Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney passed away from complications of ALS. He\u2019ll always be remembered for \u201crunning bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2705,"featured_media":5680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1753,117,2873],"class_list":{"0":"post-14851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"tag-anniversary","9":"tag-hal-finney","10":"tag-rpow"},"author_data":{"id":2705,"name":"Peter Chawaga","nicename":"peter-chawaga","avatar_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/peterc-96x96.jpg"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/hal-finney.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2705"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}