Hal Finney

(computer scientist)

Harold Thomas Finney II (May 4, 1956 –

August 28, 2014) was an American
software developer. In his early career, he
was credited as lead developer on several
console games. Finney later worked for
PGP Corporation. He also was an early
bitcoin contributor and received the first
bitcoin transaction from bitcoin's creator
Satoshi Nakamoto.[1]
 Hal Finney

Born Harold Thomas

Finney II
May 4, 1956
Coalinga, California,
US

Died August 28, 2014

(aged 58)
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Resting place Cryopreserved at
Alcor Life Extension
Foundation

Known for First Bitcoin recipient

Early life and education

Finney was born in Coalinga, California, on
May 4, 1956, to Virginia and Harold
Thomas Finney. His father was a
petroleum engineer. Harold Finney II
attended the California Institute of
Technology, graduating with a BS in
engineering in 1979.[2]
Career
After graduation from Caltech, he went to
work in the computer gaming field for a
company that developed video games
such as Adventures of Tron, Armor
Ambush, Astrosmash and Space Attack.[3]
He later went to work for the PGP
Corporation with whom he remained until
his retirement in 2011.[4]

Finney was a noted cryptographic

activist.[5] During the early 1990s, in
addition to being a regular poster on the
cypherpunks listserv, Finney ran two
anonymous remailers.[6] Further
cryptographic activism included running a
(successful) contest to break the export-
grade encryption Netscape used.[7]

Finney was involved in the development of

the first anonymous remailer, a tool for
sending emails with the sender's identity
concealed.[8] He was one of the early
contributors to this privacy-enhancing
technology, which played a significant role
in the cypherpunk movement and the
broader field of online privacy.[9] This work
further demonstrated Finney's
commitment to privacy and his significant
contributions to the development of
privacy-enhancing technologies.
In 2004, Finney created the first reusable
proof of work system before Bitcoin.[10] In
January 2009, Finney was the Bitcoin
network's first transaction recipient.[11][12]

Bitcoin
Finney was a cypherpunk and said:[13]

It seemed so obvious to me:

"Here we are faced with the
problems of loss of privacy,
creeping computerization,
massive databases, more
centralization - and [David]
Chaum offers a completely
 different direction to go in, one
which puts power into the hands
of individuals rather than
governments and corporations.
The computer can be used as a
tool to liberate and protect
people, rather than to control
them."

He was an early Bitcoin user and on

January 12, 2009,[14] he received the first
bitcoin transaction from Bitcoin's
creator[15] Satoshi Nakamoto. Finney lived
in the same town for 10 years that Dorian
Satoshi Nakamoto lived in (Temple City,
California), adding to speculation that he
may have been Bitcoin's creator.[13] Finney
denied that he was Satoshi Nakamoto.[13]

In March 2013, Finney posted on a Bitcoin

forum, BitcoinTalk, a publication called
"Bitcoin and Me (Hal Finney)" where he
states he was essentially paralyzed. He
recalls finding out that Bitcoin had gained
monetary value in late 2010, and mentions
that despite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS) disease was causing his ability to
code to be slower, he still loved
programming and that it gave him goals.
He continued to program until his death;
he was working on experimental software
called bcflick, which uses Trusted
Computing to strengthen Bitcoin wallets.

During the last year of his life, the Finneys

received anonymous calls demanding an
extortion fee of 1,000 bitcoin. They
became victims of swatting – a hoax
"where the perpetrator calls up emergency
dispatch using a spoofed telephone
number and pretends to have committed a
heinous crime in the hopes of provoking
an armed police response to the victim's
home".[16] Extortionists demanded fees of
more bitcoins than Finney had left after
using most of them to cover medical
expenses in 2013.[13]
Personal life
In October 2009, Finney announced in an
essay on the blog Less Wrong that he had
been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS) in August 2009, and wrote:
"I hope to be able to read, browse the net,
and even participate in conversations by
email and messaging (...) I may even still
be able to write code, and my dream is to
contribute to open source software
projects even from within an immobile
body. That will be a life very much worth
living."[17] Prior to his illness, Finney had
been an active runner.[18] Finney and his
wife raised money for ALS research with
the Santa Barbara International
Marathon.[19][20][21]

Death
Finney died in Phoenix, Arizona, on August
28, 2014, as a result of complications of
ALS and was cryopreserved by the Alcor
Life Extension Foundation.[4][22][23]

References
1. Peterson, Andrea (January 3, 2014). "Hal
Finney received the first Bitcoin transaction.
Here's how he describes it" (https://www.w
ashingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2
014/01/03/hal-finney-received-the-first-bitc
oin-transaction-heres-how-he-describes-it/?
 noredirect=on) . The Washington Post.
Retrieved August 27, 2019.

2. Popper, Nathaniel (30 August 2014). "Hal

Finney, Cryptographer and Bitcoin Pioneer,
Dies at 58" (https://www.nytimes.com/201
4/08/31/business/hal-finney-cryptographer
-and-bitcoin-pioneer-dies-at-58.html) . The
New York Times. Retrieved 2019-11-10.

3. "AtariAge" (https://web.archive.org/web/20
150225002424/http://www.atariage.com/p
rogrammer_page.html?ProgrammerID=17
3) . Archived from the original (http://www.
atariage.com/programmer_page.html?Prog
rammerID=173) on 25 February 2015.
Retrieved 24 February 2015.
4. Popper, Nathaniel, "Hal Finney,
Cryptographer and Bitcoin Pioneer, Dies at
58" (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/3
1/business/hal-finney-cryptographer-and-bi
tcoin-pioneer-dies-at-58.html?ref=obituarie
s) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/
20170915204932/https://www.nytimes.co
m/2014/08/31/business/hal-finney-cryptog
rapher-and-bitcoin-pioneer-dies-at-58.html?r
ef=obituaries) 2017-09-15 at the Wayback
Machine, The New York Times, August 30,
2014
5. "For instance, many ACLU members do not
share the generalized antipathy toward
government that is a common premise of
"cypherpunk" activists like Hal Finney and
Tim May." David Brin, The Transparent
Society ch2

6. "Prospects for remailers - Parekh - First

Monday" (https://web.archive.org/web/201
30409233250/http://firstmonday.org/htbin/
cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/
476/397) . Archived from the original (htt
p://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/i
ndex.php/fm/article/view/476/397) on 9
April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
7. "Give Us Some Credit: Your Card is Safe" (ht
tps://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/bu
siness/longterm/mym/columns/credcrds/c
redtweb.htm) Archived (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20150225011234/http://www.w
ashingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longt
erm/mym/columns/credcrds/credtweb.ht
m) 2015-02-25 at the Wayback Machine,
The Washington Post, 1996

8. Levy, S. (2001). Crypto: How the Code

Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy
in the Digital Age. Penguin Books.

9. Hughes, E. (1993). A Cypherpunk's

Manifesto. Retrieved from
https://www.activism.net/cypherpunk/mani
festo.html
10. "Here's The Problem with the New Theory
That A Japanese Math Professor Is The
Inventor of Bitcoin" (http://www.sfgate.co
m/technology/businessinsider/article/Here
-s-The-Problem-With-The-New-Theory-That-
A-4529573.php) . San Francisco Chronicle.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
50104063653/http://www.sfgate.com/tech
nology/businessinsider/article/Here-s-The-
Problem-With-The-New-Theory-That-A-4529
573.php) from the original on 4 January
2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
11. "Hal Finney received the first Bitcoin
transaction. Here's how he describes it" (htt
ps://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-s
witch/wp/2014/01/03/hal-finney-received-t
he-first-bitcoin-transaction-heres-how-he-de
scribes-it/) . The Washington Post.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
50227213647/http://www.washingtonpost.
com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/01/03/hal-
finney-received-the-first-bitcoin-transaction-
heres-how-he-describes-it/) from the
original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved
24 February 2015.

12. "First bitcoin transaction ever" (https://btcn

u.nl/artikelen/first-bitcoin-transaction) .
btcnu.nl. 2020-05-22. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
13. "The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
Nakamoto's Neighbor: My Hunt For Bitcoin's
Creator Led To A Paralyzed Crypto Genius"
(https://web.archive.org/web/2014032610
4029/http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygre
enberg/2014/03/25/satoshi-nakamotos-nei
ghbor-the-bitcoin-ghostwriter-who-wasnt/#
42e4aeba4a37) . Forbes. Archived from the
original (https://www.forbes.com/sites/and
ygreenberg/2014/03/25/satoshi-nakamoto
s-neighbor-the-bitcoin-ghostwriter-who-was
nt/) on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 17 April
2017.
14. "Hal Finney received the first Bitcoin
transaction. Here's how he describes it" (htt
ps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-s
witch/wp/2014/01/03/hal-finney-received-t
he-first-bitcoin-transaction-heres-how-he-de
scribes-it/) . Washington Post. ISSN 0190-
8286 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0190-
8286) . Retrieved 2022-09-20.

15. "Satoshi Nakamoto" (https://halvingbitcoin

s.com/who-is-satoshi-nakamoto/) .
halvingbitcoins.com. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
16. Robert McMillan (29 December 2014). "An
Extortionist Has Been Making Life Hell for
Bitcoin's Earliest Adopters" (https://www.wi
red.com/2014/12/finney-swat/) . Wired.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
50103053804/http://www.wired.com/201
4/12/finney-swat/) from the original on 3
January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.

17. "Dying Outside" (http://lesswrong.com/lw/1

ab/dying_outside/) . Archived (https://web.
archive.org/web/20150228034025/http://le
sswrong.com/lw/1ab/dying_outside/)
from the original on 28 February 2015.
Retrieved 24 February 2015.
18. Punzal, Barry (March 21, 2013). "In Finney
home, Fran gives care, quality of life to
husband Hal" (https://presidiosports.com/2
013/03/in-finney-home-fran-gives-care-quali
ty-of-life-to-husband-hal/) . Presidio Sports.

19. "Fight for a Cure for ALS: A Marathoners

Story" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101
013172856/http://www.sbimarathon.com/
About_Us/Fight_for_a_Cure_for_ALS__A_M
arathoners_Story.htm) . October 13, 2010.
Archived from the original (http://www.sbim
arathon.com/About_Us/Fight_for_a_Cure_f
or_ALS__A_Marathoners_Story.htm) on
October 13, 2010.
20. "Hal and Fran Finney Are Running for a
Cause" (http://www.noozhawk.com/local_n
ews/article/112909_finney_family) .
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
20308204151/http://www.noozhawk.com/l
ocal_news/article/112909_finney_family)
from the original on 8 March 2012.
Retrieved 24 February 2015.

21. "After a Year of ALS, Reality Begins to Hit

Home for Hal and Fran Finney" (http://www.
noozhawk.com/local_news/article/101710
_hal_finney_als) . Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20130625223546/http://ww
w.noozhawk.com/local_news/article/1017
10_hal_finney_als) from the original on 25
June 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
22. Max More (2014-08-28). "Hal Finney being
cryopreserved now" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20150212081404/http://lists.extrop
y.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/2014-August/
082585.html) . Archived from the original
(http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-c
hat/2014-August/082585.html) on 2015-
02-12. Retrieved 2014-08-28.

23. Andy Greenberg (2014-08-28). "Bitcoin's

Earliest Adopter Is Cryonically Freezing His
Body to See the Future" (https://www.wired.
com/2014/08/hal-finney/) . Wired.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
70407201619/https://www.wired.com/201
4/08/hal-finney/) from the original on
2017-04-07.
External links
Media related to Hal Finney (computer
scientist) at Wikimedia Commons
"Hal Finney home page" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20140403012916/http://w
ww.finney.org/~hal/) . Archived from the
original (http://finney.org/~hal/) on
2014-04-03.
Review: Vernor Vinge’s ‘Fast Times’ (htt
p://www.kurzweilai.net/review-vernor-vi
nge-s-fast-times) (review by Finney in
Extropy)

Hal Finney's profile in Forbes Magazine

(https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygre
 enberg/2014/03/25/satoshi-nakamotos
-neighbor-the-bitcoin-ghostwriter-who-w
asnt/)

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Hal_Finney_(computer_scientist)&oldid=1147
130154"

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