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Today, the crypto community remembers renowned cryptographer and computer scientist Hal Finney, regarded as the first Bitcoin user, who passed away exactly 11 years ago.
In a tweet, Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo paid tribute to the Bitcoin pioneer: "Exactly 11 years ago today – Hal Finney – the 1st Bitcoin user, passed away. He championed BTC when it was $0 and predicted $10 million BTC. Gone but not forgotten. Legend."
Finney was among the first to download, install and use the Bitcoin software when pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto initially released it. In his early experimentation with Bitcoin, Finney mined the cryptocurrency, finding and fixing software problems subsequently.
However, due to excessive CPU consumption, Finney removed the Bitcoin software, but it was only for a brief period.
Satoshi mystery remains
Finney wrote his name in the sands of time as Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto sent him the first ever Bitcoin transaction. Satoshi initiated the first transaction on the blockchain on Jan. 12, 2009, sending 10 Bitcoin to Finney, the first of what would later be regarded as a peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction.
Finney was also among the first to reply to Satoshi Nakamoto’s publication of the white paper.
When Bitcoin was worth cents, Finney predicted the cryptocurrency would go to millions of dollars, with a $10 million BTC prediction attributed to him.
Finney was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2009 and passed away on Aug. 28, 2014. Finney was speculated to be Satoshi Nakamoto, but he denied this before his passing. To date, the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery yet unsolved.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team