Remembering cypherpunk Hal Finney

The crypto community remembered early Bitcoin innovator and cypherpunk Hal Finney on 4 May, what would have been his 65th birthday.

Finney, who sadly passed away from ALS in 2014, was a key early member of the Bitcoin community and one of the first to respond to Satoshi Nakamoto’s post on the cypherpunk mailing list. More than ten years have now passed since Finney became the recipient of the first-ever transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Prior to his death, Finney wrote, “When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away.

“I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run Bitcoin. I mined block 70-something, and I was the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction, when Satoshi sent ten coins to me as a test. I carried on an email conversation with Satoshi over the next few days, mostly me reporting bugs and him fixing them.”

Rest in peace, Hal Finney. We are thankful and celebrate the contributions you made crypto.

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