Hal Finney
1956 – 2014
The first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction. Cryptographer. Cypherpunk. Eternal optimist.
“Running bitcoin”
— @halfin on Twitter, January 11, 2009
Two words. The start of everything.
Life & Career
Born in Coalinga, California
Graduated from Caltech with a degree in engineering
Joined PGP Corporation; became lead developer of PGP 2.0, the first widely-used strong encryption for email
Active on the Cypherpunks mailing list from its earliest days, alongside Wei Dai, Nick Szabo, and Adam Back
Created RPOW (Reusable Proof of Work) — a system for transferable proof-of-work tokens, a direct precursor to Bitcoin mining
Downloaded Bitcoin v0.1 on the day Satoshi released it. One of only two people running the software.
Tweeted "Running bitcoin" — two words that became one of the most iconic moments in crypto history
Received 10 BTC from Satoshi Nakamoto in block 170 — the first-ever Bitcoin transaction between two people
Filed bug reports, suggested protocol improvements, and ran one of the earliest Bitcoin nodes alongside Satoshi
Diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Passed away at age 58. His body was cryopreserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The First Transaction
FROM
Satoshi Nakamoto
TO
Hal Finney
AMOUNT
10 BTC
TX: f4184fc596403b9d638783cf57adfe4c75c605f6356fbc91338530e9831e9e16
Hal was the only other person running Bitcoin software that day. Satoshi sent him 10 BTC as a test — the first time bitcoin had ever moved from one person to another. This simple test transaction proved that the system worked, and a new form of money was born.
The Farewell Post
Bitcointalk.org · March 19, 2013
“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.”
By the time Hal wrote his farewell post, he was almost completely paralysed by ALS. He composed it using eye-tracking software, one painstaking character at a time. In it, he reflected on being the first to run Bitcoin, receiving the first transaction, and his continued optimism about the technology — even as his body failed him.
Read the full postCypherpunk Connections
Adam Back
Hal's RPOW system was directly inspired by Back's Hashcash proof-of-work. Both became foundational to Bitcoin's mining mechanism.
Wei Dai
Fellow Cypherpunks mailing list member. Wei Dai’s b-money proposal and Hal’s RPOW explored parallel paths toward decentralised digital cash.
Nick Szabo
Both explored digital scarcity independently. Szabo’s Bit Gold and Hal’s RPOW are the two closest predecessors to Bitcoin.
David Chaum
Hal built on Chaum’s cryptographic foundations at PGP. Chaum invented blind signatures and eCash; Hal helped make encryption accessible to everyone.
Legacy
- The Hal Finney Bitcoin prize honours contributions to Bitcoin development, keeping his spirit of open-source collaboration alive.
- His family continues to advocate for ALS research. The Bitcoin community has raised significant funds in his name.
- Hal's body is cryopreserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation — fitting for someone who always believed in the future.
- He remains one of the most respected figures in Bitcoin history. His optimism, technical brilliance, and kindness set the tone for the entire community.
“It seemed like such a long shot, but I figured the potential was huge.”
— Hal Finney