http://www.vox.com/2014/8/28/6079661/the-second-man-to-use-bitcoin-is-legally-dead-and-his-body-is-beinginney, who grew up in Los Angeles and studied computer science at Cal Tech, had a lifetime interest in cryptography and digital currencies. He played a role in the development of PGP, email encryption software that is still widely used today.
Finney became the first Bitcoin user because he was a regular on the cryptography mailing list where Nakamoto made the initial Bitcoin announcement. One of his last interviews was with Forbes's Andy Greenberg, who talked to him in March. By then, ALS had damaged his body to the point where he could only communicate by moving his eyes. Greenberg says it took Finney almost a day to compose a single 3-paragraph email to Greenberg.
