[2019-01-11] 10 Years Ago Today, Hal Finney Started ‘Running Bitcoin’

[Lmaooo]

Hal Finney is one of the people many suspected to be Satoshi Nakamoto. A long-time cryptographer and cypherpunk, Finney was the first person ever to receive a Bitcoin transaction. From Satoshi Nakamoto. He was enthusiastic about the project from the beginning. He posted the first known tweet about Bitcoin ten years ago today.

https://twitter.com/halfin/status/1136749815

Part of the speculation about Hal Finney being Satoshi Nakamoto was due to the fact that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto lived in the same town as him for ten years. Both Finney and Dorian Nakamoto denied involvement in the creation of Bitcoin.

Today, tweets about Bitcoin number in the thousands. At the time, however, Finney might have just been trying to get his followers involved in the project. Early messages about the cryptocurrency were very inviting. No one had any clue that it would become an economic force global markets are still trying to adapt to.

When mainstream financial analysts first came across Bitcoin, they often dismissed it as something that couldn’t possibly stand the test of time. Today, however, no one thinks cryptocurrencies are going anywhere, although the mantra of “Bitcoin maximalism” seems to be fading as dozens of other cryptos develop strong market capitalizations.

CCN | https://www.ccn.com/10-years-ago-today-hal-finney-started-running-bitcoin/

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[Kakmakr]

Hal Finney believed in Bitcoin and he kept on pushing out code, even from his sick bed, when he could hardly move anymore. We will never understand the commitment and drive that this individual had for this technology.

Hal Finney should be an inspiration to all of us and developers should tap some inspiration from his life and the fight that he had in him to make a success of this experiment. His legacy to all of us is his endurance and belief in this technology.

Thank you, Hal for what you did for Bitcoin.  RIP.

[buwaytress]

Aye, thank you Hal. Funny that usually it's the dead who are venerated while others still alive continue to live in the shadow of predecessors, but in Finney's case, it seems nothing can step out of Satoshi's silhoutte. I always thought finney was a nice denomination, not that I mind satoshi.

Today, however, no one thinks cryptocurrencies are going anywhere, although the mantra of “Bitcoin maximalism” seems to be fading as dozens of other cryptos develop strong market capitalizations.

Bitcoin maximalism may be fading in terms of visibility and popularity, but I believe its earliest proponents have also been the most quiet about professing it, and remain so today.

[1Referee]

Bitcoin maximalism may be fading in terms of visibility and popularity, but I believe its earliest proponents have also been the most quiet about professing it, and remain so today.

I actually see Bitcoin maximalism gaining more and more traction, but the thing is that the insane amounts of idiots sucking off altcoins for a tiny reward are so loud and present, that they make it look like decentralization doesn't matter anymore.

On top of that, Bitcoin doesn't need any marketing, shilling, etc. Bitcoin being Bitcoin is enough. Altcoins however have armies of shills either being paid to trap in newbies, or shills trying to have you buy their expensive bags full of coins they bought at way higher levels. XRP is the best example of that. They are everywhere.

Respect to anyone going in and out XRP for the profits to end up with more BTC, but gtfo to anyone supporting this centralized and government approved garbage.

[squatter]

Bitcoin maximalism may be fading in terms of visibility and popularity, but I believe its earliest proponents have also been the most quiet about professing it, and remain so today.

I actually see Bitcoin maximalism gaining more and more traction, but the thing is that the insane amounts of idiots sucking off altcoins for a tiny reward are so loud and present, that they make it look like decentralization doesn't matter anymore.

I think both camps are growing, as should be expected from continued market growth. Maximalists have their own share of incessantly loud social media personalities as well, who are shilling their chosen coin just the same.

I've noticed there is a strong tendency for newbies to buy into altcoins because "Bitcoin is too expensive." That was my own starting point many years ago. I later became a maximalist for a couple years, only to begin rejecting it because its dogma is so obviously at odds with the market. Maximalists are constantly cursing the irrationality of altcoin growth and it makes them look almost as foolish as Bitcoin skeptics citing tulip mania. I think this eventually happens to a lot of maximalists -- they simply get tired of fighting the market.

[BitHodler]

Maximalists are constantly cursing the irrationality of altcoin growth and it makes them look almost as foolish as Bitcoin skeptics citing tulip mania. I think this eventually happens to a lot of maximalists -- they simply get tired of fighting the market.

That's exactly what made me dislike most of the people calling themselves Bitcoin maximalists or purists. I get it that you prefer Bitcoin over anything else, which is what I do as well, but don't act like a retard. It's pathetic.

Not everything is a shitcoin, and even if most of them are actually shitcoins, they won't go away but become more valuable as time goes by, because Bitcoin increasing simply means the rest of the market increases as well.

People noticed that altcoins provide better returns during bull runs, which is exactly why they park some of their capital in altcoins rather than Bitcoin. Can't blame people for trying to utilize the little capital they have in the best possible manner.

[buwaytress]

Bitcoin maximalism may be fading in terms of visibility and popularity, but I believe its earliest proponents have also been the most quiet about professing it, and remain so today.

I actually see Bitcoin maximalism gaining more and more traction, but the thing is that the insane amounts of idiots sucking off altcoins for a tiny reward are so loud and present, that they make it look like decentralization doesn't matter anymore.

I think both camps are growing, as should be expected from continued market growth. Maximalists have their own share of incessantly loud social media personalities as well, who are shilling their chosen coin just the same.

I've noticed there is a strong tendency for newbies to buy into altcoins because "Bitcoin is too expensive." That was my own starting point many years ago. I later became a maximalist for a couple years, only to begin rejecting it because its dogma is so obviously at odds with the market. Maximalists are constantly cursing the irrationality of altcoin growth and it makes them look almost as foolish as Bitcoin skeptics citing tulip mania. I think this eventually happens to a lot of maximalists -- they simply get tired of fighting the market.

I think that may have been the case right when I joined... Seeing people speak about the "blockchain, not bitcoin" mantra in 2016 and then slowly seeing the folly of altcoin hype, before the entire 2017 market blinded everyone again and that mantra took hold.

A year later, zero utility for the majority of alts and Bitcoin dominance stubbornly holding, and all talk of flippening in the water, people think, maybe Bitcoin, not blockchain after all, price and market wise anyway.

Cyclical but I don't think there can be growth for maximalists... Hard to see them among new adopters.

[squatter]

I think that may have been the case right when I joined... Seeing people speak about the "blockchain, not bitcoin" mantra in 2016 and then slowly seeing the folly of altcoin hype, before the entire 2017 market blinded everyone again and that mantra took hold.

A year later, zero utility for the majority of alts and Bitcoin dominance stubbornly holding, and all talk of flippening in the water, people think, maybe Bitcoin, not blockchain after all, price and market wise anyway.

Cyclical but I don't think there can be growth for maximalists... Hard to see them among new adopters.

I'm guessing "Bitcoin dominance" will continue its downward trajectory overall, just because the growth in number of altcoins dampens any move upwards. But as long as there are new cryptocurrency investors, there will always be new maximalists because I think it's just a phase a lot of investors go through. It also probably waxes and wanes with the market. For instance, in terms of price and hype, early 2017 was all about altcoins but late 2017 was all about Bitcoin. I'm sure that dynamic has an effect on this.