Bitcoin and me (Hal Finney)

[dario.93]

I like to see the people like you who know how to take the best out of the situation despite possible problems on their way.

[Gleb Gamow]

I like to see the people like you who know how to take the best out of the situation despite possible problems on their way.

Hal's dead, going on four years now. ✓

User ain't got no clue, yet makes bank for his reply thanks to sig campaign participation. ✓

[PhantomJ]

I thought I'd write about the last four years, an eventful time for Bitcoin and me.

For those who don't know me, I'm Hal Finney. I got my start in crypto working on an early version of PGP, working closely with Phil Zimmermann. When Phil decided to start PGP Corporation, I was one of the first hires. I would work on PGP until my retirement. At the same time, I got involved with the Cypherpunks. I ran the first cryptographically based anonymous remailer, among other activities.

Fast forward to late 2008 and the announcement of Bitcoin. I've noticed that cryptographic graybeards (I was in my mid 50's) tend to get cynical. I was more idealistic; I have always loved crypto, the mystery and the paradox of it.

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. I had long been interested in cryptographic payment schemes. Plus I was lucky enough to meet and extensively correspond with both Wei Dai and Nick Szabo, generally acknowledged to have created ideas that would be realized with Bitcoin. I had made an attempt to create my own proof of work based currency, called RPOW. So I found Bitcoin facinating.

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.

Today, Satoshi's true identity has become a mystery. But at the time, I thought I was dealing with a young man of Japanese ancestry who was very smart and sincere. I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.

After a few days, bitcoin was running pretty stably, so I left it running. Those were the days when difficulty was 1, and you could find blocks with a CPU, not even a GPU. I mined several blocks over the next days. But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning. It's one of those glass half full half empty things.

The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value. I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there. As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs.

Speaking of heirs, I got a surprise in 2009, when I was suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease. I was in the best shape of my life at the start of that year, I'd lost a lot of weight and taken up distance running. I'd run several half marathons, and I was starting to train for a full marathon. I worked my way up to 20+ mile runs, and I thought I was all set. That's when everything went wrong.

My body began to fail. I slurred my speech, lost strength in my hands, and my legs were slow to recover. In August, 2009, I was given the diagnosis of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous baseball player who got it.

ALS is a disease that kills moter neurons, which carry signals from the brain to the muscles. It causes first weakness, then gradually increasing paralysis. It is usually fatal in 2 to 5 years. My symptoms were mild at first and I continued to work, but fatigue and voice problems forced me to retire in early 2011. Since then the disease has continued its inexorable progression.

Today, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube. I operate the computer using a commercial eyetracker system. It also has a speech synthesizer, so this is my voice now. I spend all day in my power wheelchair. I worked up an interface using an arduino so that I can adjust my wheelchair's position using my eyes.

It has been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad. I can still read, listen to music, and watch TV and movies. I recently discovered that I can even write code. It's very slow, probably 50 times slower than I was before. But I still love programming and it gives me goals. Currently I'm working on something Mike Hearn suggested, using the security features of modern processors, designed to support "Trusted Computing", to harden Bitcoin wallets. It's almost ready to release. I just have to do the documentation.

And of course the price gyrations of bitcoins are entertaining to me. I have skin in the game. But I came by my bitcoins through luck, with little credit to me. I lived through the crash of 2011. So I've seen it before. Easy come, easy go.

That's my story. I'm pretty lucky overall. Even with the ALS, my life is very satisfying. But my life expectancy is limited. Those discussions about inheriting your bitcoins are of more than academic interest. My bitcoins are stored in our safe deposit box, and my son and daughter are tech savvy. I think they're safe enough. I'm comfortable with my legacy.
[edited slightly]

RIP Hal. So long, and thanks for all the open source contributions! You will be missed but your genius and positivity will last an eternity.

[vivekyuvan]

Hal Finney received the first ever Bitcoin transaction.

Hal Finney was the second ever user of Bitcoin (after Satoshi) (How we would he even know about it?).

Hal Finney was a pioneer in PGP encryption a software used by the cryptographic company he work for PGP (since acquired by Symantec).

Hal Finney was a known computer scientist and cryptographer that worked and ideas on crypto currency.

Hal Finney was instrumental in early Bitcoin Protocol bug fixes.

Hal Finney exchanged emails with ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ but he could have wrote these to distance himself from his own invention.

Hal Finney lived close (same neighbourhood) to someone actually called Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto (below).

Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto

‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ wanted to remain anonymous because was likely scared of the repercussions of inventing a potential rival to the USD and a worthy challenge to the estblashement.

Satoshi Nakamoto wanted to remain anonymous due to the arrest of the investors of the Liberty Dollar in 2009.
he ability for commercial banks and central banks to create money from nothing is the one thing that keeps them and governments from being accountable and honest to the people they should be answerable to.
Hal Finney is sadly no longer with us (as are so many of those who challenge and threaten the status quo).
He was super healthy and became very ill suddenly.
He has been cryogenically frozen.
Hal Finney is therefore surely the strongest candidate to be Satishi Nakamoto?

[melonbtchunter]

Bitcoin is helping humanity and is becoming a valuable currency in the future. It helps people financially and moves towards progress. I work in bitcoin and earn money and can meet my family's needs. Bitcoin ended my unemployment.

[freesia_pnp888]

why i only get to read this now? it's awesome!

[Geor]

I thought I'd write about the last four years, an eventful time for Bitcoin and me.

For those who don't know me, I'm Hal Finney. I got my start in crypto working on an early version of PGP, working closely with Phil Zimmermann. When Phil decided to start PGP Corporation, I was one of the first hires. I would work on PGP until my retirement. At the same time, I got involved with the Cypherpunks. I ran the first cryptographically based anonymous remailer, among other activities.

Fast forward to late 2008 and the announcement of Bitcoin. I've noticed that cryptographic graybeards (I was in my mid 50's) tend to get cynical. I was more idealistic; I have always loved crypto, the mystery and the paradox of it.

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. I had long been interested in cryptographic payment schemes. Plus I was lucky enough to meet and extensively correspond with both Wei Dai and Nick Szabo, generally acknowledged to have created ideas that would be realized with Bitcoin. I had made an attempt to create my own proof of work based currency, called RPOW. So I found Bitcoin facinating.

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.

Today, Satoshi's true identity has become a mystery. But at the time, I thought I was dealing with a young man of Japanese ancestry who was very smart and sincere. I've had the good fortune to know many brilliant people over the course of my life, so I recognize the signs.

After a few days, bitcoin was running pretty stably, so I left it running. Those were the days when difficulty was 1, and you could find blocks with a CPU, not even a GPU. I mined several blocks over the next days. But I turned it off because it made my computer run hot, and the fan noise bothered me. In retrospect, I wish I had kept it up longer, but on the other hand I was extraordinarily lucky to be there at the beginning. It's one of those glass half full half empty things.

The next I heard of Bitcoin was late 2010, when I was surprised to find that it was not only still going, bitcoins actually had monetary value. I dusted off my old wallet, and was relieved to discover that my bitcoins were still there. As the price climbed up to real money, I transferred the coins into an offline wallet, where hopefully they'll be worth something to my heirs.

Speaking of heirs, I got a surprise in 2009, when I was suddenly diagnosed with a fatal disease. I was in the best shape of my life at the start of that year, I'd lost a lot of weight and taken up distance running. I'd run several half marathons, and I was starting to train for a full marathon. I worked my way up to 20+ mile runs, and I thought I was all set. That's when everything went wrong.

My body began to fail. I slurred my speech, lost strength in my hands, and my legs were slow to recover. In August, 2009, I was given the diagnosis of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, after the famous baseball player who got it.

ALS is a disease that kills moter neurons, which carry signals from the brain to the muscles. It causes first weakness, then gradually increasing paralysis. It is usually fatal in 2 to 5 years. My symptoms were mild at first and I continued to work, but fatigue and voice problems forced me to retire in early 2011. Since then the disease has continued its inexorable progression.

Today, I am essentially paralyzed. I am fed through a tube, and my breathing is assisted through another tube. I operate the computer using a commercial eyetracker system. It also has a speech synthesizer, so this is my voice now. I spend all day in my power wheelchair. I worked up an interface using an arduino so that I can adjust my wheelchair's position using my eyes.

It has been an adjustment, but my life is not too bad. I can still read, listen to music, and watch TV and movies. I recently discovered that I can even write code. It's very slow, probably 50 times slower than I was before. But I still love programming and it gives me goals. Currently I'm working on something Mike Hearn suggested, using the security features of modern processors, designed to support "Trusted Computing", to harden Bitcoin wallets. It's almost ready to release. I just have to do the documentation.

And of course the price gyrations of bitcoins are entertaining to me. I have skin in the game. But I came by my bitcoins through luck, with little credit to me. I lived through the crash of 2011. So I've seen it before. Easy come, easy go.

That's my story. I'm pretty lucky overall. Even with the ALS, my life is very satisfying. But my life expectancy is limited. Those discussions about inheriting your bitcoins are of more than academic interest. My bitcoins are stored in our safe deposit box, and my son and daughter are tech savvy. I think they're safe enough. I'm comfortable with my legacy.
[edited slightly]

I never met him, and he doesn't know me, I live in the other part of the world, I came across this story a year or so ago, but he left a big place in my heart, and I find the timing depressing.

[nsasuiteb]

That's very influential, I wish I was here in the early times of bitcoin, not because of money I could not keep them though but because of many great people.

[dragon 88]

Appreciate uplifting me ! I really hope your day comes whenever we meet once again later on.Greatest wants for that current state your in. Getting excited about a better long term whenever you shall stroll the earth again.

[buahkudu]

Bitcoin and me (Hal Finney)
bitcoin has become a necessity for me, and bitcoin itself has helped me a lot to add my insight into the digital world. with the presence of bitcoin I can increase my income.

[Liona88]

Thanks for sharing your story. Very inspirational.

[Domino68]

Beautiful Story. Thank you for sharing with us.

[torres99]

It truly is an honor to be component of a local community which you took element in bringing to life. Rest simple, Hal.

[mdrakibul]

Thanks for taking the time to share your story. I'm impressed and inspired by your attitude in the face of adversity. I've been programming for 30 years and I hope I can continue as long as I am able.I hope that the value of Bitcoin since the time of your original writing provides some satisfaction, not least for your long-term involvement.

[bitadviser]

interesting story, and in your not easy case, i see you still have alot of positive things that keep you alive, you trying so hard to live and work, i wish you the best, fuck disease, if ppl would investigate more health problems instead spend money of wars our life was more beautiful and happier isn't?

[LynielZbl]

Wow.  I knew he had ALS and was becoming increasingly paralyzed, but didn't know he had passed on until just now.  What a frustrating and imprisoning feeling that must be: to have a brilliant mind trapped in a failing body that can no longer communicate to the outside world.

[Carterfinley65]

Yes thank you for all your hard work on PGP, especially.Your attitude then, and now
is what makes being a part of Bitcoin such a fabulous experience.

[sikami]

I am very grateful to you for delivering impressive speech, great sharing
Not many people actually make a significant impact. Thank you for sharing your story right now, and for both your wisdom and good style throughout your life.
I am speechless. Thank you!

[jianhuang]

I have wondered before to what extreme efforts I would take to continue programming under conditions such as yours.

[christian1103]

Me also, just discovered this old post and will be added to the already hundreds of people in here feeling inspired by you.Thanks for sharing this awesome story with us.