Hal Finney wins award for his contribution to Bitcoin development!

[Lucius]

Most of us know who Hal Finney was, and I think we can all agree that for his work when it comes to Bitcoin, he deserves a special place next to Satoshi Nakamoto. Although Hal has not been with us for 10 years, it is nice to see that people still remember him and that the Human Rights Foundation decided to establish an award that will bear his name, and that the first winner will be Hal posthumously.

HRF allocated a total of 33 BTC, of which 1 BTC will go to Hal, and given that the prize will be awarded every four years, there will also be prizes for the periods 2012-2016, 2016-2020 and 2020-2024.

It will be interesting who will receive the awards for the remaining three periods, and of course it will also be interesting what the members of the forum think about it.

More info at the link -> Bitcoin Pioneer Hal Finney Posthumously Wins New Award Named for Him

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[tranthidung]

HRF allocated a total of 33 BTC, of which 1 BTC will go to Hal

I am curious when reading this and want to know how HRF distribute this prize. No surprise that they do a right thing by sending it (or planning to send it) to Hals' wife, Fran Finney, and it is also good to know the widow plans to donate it to a charity.

Fran Finney, his widow, will accept the inaugural Finney Freedom Prize on Hal’s behalf and plans to donate the monetary prize of 1 bitcoin (BTC) to a yet-unnamed charity.

and given that the prize will be awarded every four years, there will also be prizes for the periods 2012-2016, 2016-2020 and 2020-2024.

It will be interesting who will receive the awards for the remaining three periods, and of course it will also be interesting what the members of the forum think about it.

Some names I can think of because they are important in Bitcoin history.

• Laszlo Hanyecz with a classic trade: pizza for bitcoins ?
  
  • http://heliacal.net/~solar/bitcoin/pizza/
• Gavin Andresen: Early Bitcoin developers, took over the forum from Satoshi Nakamoto and talked about Bitcoin in front of CIA.
  
  • Gavin will visit the CIA
• theymos: built a first Bitcoin block explorer.
  
  • A first Bitcoin block explorer. How does it look like?
• bitboy: designed the Bitcoin logo which is used nowadays
  
  • More Bitcoin logos, buttons, and also some other graphics

[Lucius]

Laszlo certainly has its place in BTC history, but that event took place in 2010, and Hal was awarded for that period. Gavin is also one of the candidates, but it's no secret that I personally wouldn't give him the award for several reasons - one is precisely that he went where he shouldn't have, and he himself admitted that he might have scared Satoshi that way. The second thing that disqualifies him in my opinion is that at one point he gave support to CW Faketoshi claiming that he is the real Satoshi.

Also, the @theymos explorer is from 2010, and the next three awards will be given to people for their contributions in the period 2012-2024. I think that the winners in that period should be looked for in those who had a key role in the development of SegWit and Lightning Network, and maybe those who stood up to CW Faketoshi, like @Hodlonaut.

[kotajikikox]

I am curious when reading this and want to know how HRF distribute this prize.

Did you mean how do they decide on the winner? I am pretty sure that alike many awarding system they have a criteria and a panel of judges if you will. Let us just hope those who will decide are credible and critical.

Since this is the first time the award is being given, we are still almost playing blindly here with not much information or expectations of what is about to come.

No surprise that they do a right thing by sending it (or planning to send it) to Hals' wife, Fran Finney, and it is also good to know the widow plans to donate it to a charity.

She has a good heart, bless her.

[Dunamisx]

Most of us know who Hal Finney was, and I think we can all agree that for his work when it comes to Bitcoin, he deserves a special place next to Satoshi Nakamoto.

The history of bitcoin is never complete without the mention of this great icon of blessed memory Hal Finney, he has done his own part and have contributed to the success of what we all have today and called bitcoin, indeed if he is still alive, i will say that after Satoshi then he should be the next, but we cannot cheat nature, he has gone to an eternal rest after his virtuous labor on earth for developing what is a lifetime relevance on humanity, his destiny chooses to go and lay to rest.

Although Hal has not been with us for 10 years, it is nice to see that people still remember him and that the Human Rights Foundation decided to establish an award that will bear his name, and that the first winner will be Hal posthumously.

We all missed him, his kind is rare to sought for on earth, while his legacies remains forever.

[Wind_FURY]

Laszlo certainly has its place in BTC history, but that event took place in 2010, and Hal was awarded for that period. Gavin is also one of the candidates, but it's no secret that I personally wouldn't give him the award for several reasons - one is precisely that he went where he shouldn't have, and he himself admitted that he might have scared Satoshi that way. The second thing that disqualifies him in my opinion is that at one point he gave support to CW Faketoshi claiming that he is the real Satoshi.

Plus Gavin's Bitcoin XT proposal, without the proper framing/planning. It was also divisive that ended with a community split between small blockers and big blockers.

Also, the @theymos explorer is from 2010, and the next three awards will be given to people for their contributions in the period 2012-2024. I think that the winners in that period should be looked for in those who had a key role in the development of SegWit and Lightning Network, and maybe those who stood up to CW Faketoshi, like @Hodlonaut.

My candidate is controversial - Shaolinfry for proposing the UASF and starting the movement/awareness that the miners don't have absolute power over the network, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1805060.0

Whether if it's right or wrong, I believe it's a very important development in the game-theory behind Bitcoin and decentralized networks.

[un_rank]

I think that the winners in that period should be looked for in those who had a key role in the development of SegWit and Lightning Network, and maybe those who stood up to CW Faketoshi, like @Hodlonaut.

Hodlnaut is a great choice for an award which is about freedom, but they were dragged into the case by CSW leading to the court hearings and publicity the case got. This is taking nothing away from the action of standing up to those trying the hardest to silence voices. COPA may have had a shout in, but it was led by centralized corporations.

How about one of the forum's own o_e_l_e_o? His contribution to the Bitcoin network is immense over those years.

- Jay -

[Amphenomenon]

Laszlo certainly has its place in BTC history, but that event took place in 2010, and Hal was awarded for that period. Gavin is also one of the candidates, but it's no secret that I personally wouldn't give him the award for several reasons - one is precisely that he went where he shouldn't have, and he himself admitted that he might have scared Satoshi that way. The second thing that disqualifies him in my opinion is that at one point he gave support to CW Faketoshi claiming that he is the real Satoshi.

Wow I never knew Gavin once supported CW, which I would say was more disappointing than the first.

Also, the @theymos explorer is from 2010, and the next three awards will be given to people for their contributions in the period 2012-2024. I think that the winners in that period should be looked for in those who had a key role in the development of SegWit and Lightning Network, and maybe those who stood up to CW Faketoshi, like @Hodlonaut.

I was thinking of Wei Dai: The creator of B money, bitcoin predecessor https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/B-money but I think with your reason here, others will be considered and the developers of the SegWit
Though I don't think the LN dev will be given this award since it's not actual solution to the Bitcoin scalability issues while Pieter Wuille may probably get this award his contribution to the development of the Segwit address. While Hodlonaut definitely deserves it for his fight for the truth.
Also I think an this award should also go to El Salvador or top influencer in making bitcoin a legal tender there, since they are the first country for doing so.

HRF allocated a total of 33 BTC, of which 1 BTC will go to Hal

I am curious when reading this and want to know how HRF distribute this prize. No surprise that they do a right thing by sending it (or planning to send it) to Hals' wife, Fran Finney, and it is also good to know the widow plans to donate it to a charity.

Fran Finney, his widow, will accept the inaugural Finney Freedom Prize on Hal’s behalf and plans to donate the monetary prize of 1 bitcoin (BTC) to a yet-unnamed charity.

Hal Finney wife is just as wonderful as her husband, God bless her and their family

[Faisal2202]

That's good news and thanks for sharing this information with us as I do know who he is but didn't knew that he earned that reward. I guess his family will receive that reward after him, and you are right he deserves a place with Satoshi but only if we knew where Satoshi is, maybe you are talking about giving some kind of rank like there is a rank or title for the satoshi on this forum. Am I right?

The rewards are not so much but its enough as we know the wife of Hal Finney (fran Finney) is raising funds for the research of ALS which is the study of microorganisms causing the disease. So, these funds will do a lot in her hands. As you asked who will receive the awards I guess this award is initialized with the approval of her wife already As this site states:
In 2024, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) created the Finney Freedom Prize with the blessing and approval of Fran Finney

[Alone055]

Also, the @theymos explorer is from 2010, and the next three awards will be given to people for their contributions in the period 2012-2024. I think that the winners in that period should be looked for in those who had a key role in the development of SegWit and Lightning Network, and maybe those who stood up to CW Faketoshi, like @Hodlonaut.

What about this forum? Shouldn't theymos get the recognition he deserves for keeping this forum alive and taking such good care of it for all those years? This is the official Bitcoin forum created by Satoshi himself, but if it wasn't managed in a good way, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be in the state it is today, and we can't neglect the efforts of theymos for doing that along with other members who supported him.

Understandably, later developers are deserving as well, but I think he should at least get one of the awards from 2012-2024 because even if he didn't contribute much to the network or the blockchain in these years, he has been around and managing and keeping the official forum alive which isn't less than other contributions people have made for Bitcoin.

[alastantiger]

Hal Finney's biography adapted to video format on the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) YouTube offers a broader view into the life of Hal and how consistent he has been with the vision and goal for privacy in the digital world. Learning that his Reusable Proofs of Work(RPOW) didn't take off but his was first to support the bitcoin whitepaper without trying to compete with Satoshi makes him the real OG and it is an award well deserved for his immense contributions to bitcoin.

The people on my list for the next three awards for their contributions in the period 2012-2024 should include -

Andreas Antonopoulos. I think an educator should be added to your list as well.

Jameson Lopp - he created the  statoshi.info and has been a strong advocate for Bitcoin privacy.

Wladimir J. van der Laan who is the current maintainer of Bitcoin Core

[Lucius]

~snip~
How about one of the forum's own o_e_l_e_o? His contribution to the Bitcoin network is immense over those years.

I hope I'm wrong, but apart from some developers who used to be active on the forum or are still active, I think that those who decide on the winners won't really take forum members into account. @o_e_l_e_o was one of the best members of this forum, and the members have recognized him several times by choosing him as member of the year in the annual competition.

Wow I never knew Gavin once supported CW, which I would say was more disappointing than the first.
~snip~

I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin.
I was flown to London to meet Dr. Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I’d communicated with in 2010 and early 2011. After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.

This is something that everyone should know because it shows how bad someone as a person is in evaluating other people, not to say naive enough to believe in fairy tales.

~snip~
The people on my list for the next three awards for their contributions in the period 2012-2024 should include -
Andreas Antonopoulos. I think an educator should be added to your list as well.
Jameson Lopp - he created the  statoshi.info and has been a strong advocate for Bitcoin privacy.
Wladimir J. van der Laan who is the current maintainer of Bitcoin Core

These are good candidates who definitely have a chance of being selected. The selection will still depend on the criteria of the commission that will decide on it, and their names are in the article. What is certain is that it will not be easy for them to choose, because there are a lot of good people who have made a great contribution to Bitcoin over the years.

[ABCbits]

I find it's interesting they split it into 4 year range. Although i hope award for next time range will mention list of the candidate.

Wow I never knew Gavin once supported CW, which I would say was more disappointing than the first.
~snip~

I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin.
I was flown to London to meet Dr. Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I’d communicated with in 2010 and early 2011. After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.

This is something that everyone should know because it shows how bad someone as a person is in evaluating other people, not to say naive enough to believe in fairy tales.

In addition, that link also shows it took almost 7 years to admit that he was wrong. But considering it's when CSW/faketoshi start to lose his momentum along with he communicated with Satoshi in past, some people speculate he was bribed by CSW/faketoshi and later decide to leave the "sinking ship".

[Kelward]

I'm happy for an award like this to recognize and celebrate exceptional individuals, whether they're dead or alive, who had worked to make Bitcoin what it is today, and a research of deserving individuals, the name Hal Finney, will surely appear. I wouldn't worry about the criteria that the organizers will use to get future awardees, I'm sure that it'll be names that we know and are deserving of the award. I don't know if there's any awards or recognition to the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto?

[Ambatman]

Okay always heard about Hal finney and usually in respect to his contribution to Bitcoin and his sickness
Seeing this thread made me check the wiki and something's there really made me see the man's conviction in Bitcoin and coding.

He continued to program until his death; he was working on experimental software called bcflick, which uses Trusted Computing to strengthen Bitcoin wallets.

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

Source Wiki

It's nice seeing him been acknowledged after his death. This would serve as proof to current enthusiasts that their contributions would not be taken for granted.

[Amphenomenon]

I find it's interesting they split it into 4 year range. Although i hope award for next time range will mention list of the candidate.

I will prefer this also, which will be for a better transparency and makes it easier for us to understand the reasons they picked each winners

Wow I never knew Gavin once supported CW, which I would say was more disappointing than the first.
~snip~

I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin.
I was flown to London to meet Dr. Wright a couple of weeks ago, after an initial email conversation convinced me that there was a very good chance he was the same person I’d communicated with in 2010 and early 2011. After spending time with him I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt: Craig Wright is Satoshi.

This is something that everyone should know because it shows how bad someone as a person is in evaluating other people, not to say naive enough to believe in fairy tales.

In addition, that link also shows it took almost 7 years to admit that he was wrong. But considering it's when CSW/faketoshi start to lose his momentum along with he communicated with Satoshi in past, some people speculate he was bribed by CSW/faketoshi and later decide to leave the "sinking ship".

Wow almost 7 years to accept a clear truth, I seriously need to go know more about the whole CW drama because I can see this was really serious when it really started and now understand why many BTT og were really following the court case earlier this year.

He had a meeting with him and then he believed CW, I will only believe that this is not bribery if there are other individuals who ever communicated with Satoshi before he left that believes CW claims with him or else it's a pretty obvious bribe