I did a write up for an article about the possible whereabouts of Satoshi Nakamoto. I have already written about Nick Szabo, Dorian Nakamoto, and Dave Kleiman. Im writing about Hal now and I thought you may enjoy it.Hal FinneyHal Finney was quite influential in the beginning of Bitcoin. He received the first BTC transaction from “Satoshi Nakamoto”. But I am getting ahead of myself. Lets start at the beginning. Hal was born on May 4, 1956. He began his computer-centric career developing console video games. This really intrigued me, as I was a huge fan of console gaming back in the 80’s. Games like “Adventures of Tron (ironic I know), Armor Ambush, and Space Attack. Hal eventually left the console world to focus on cryptography. He became a developer for the PGP corporation (Which happened to be one of the first publicly available implementations of public-key cryptography) This allowed people to chat with each other via computer with encryption ensuring a secure connection. When you see the goal of PGP it is no wonder why Hal got involved with Bitcoin. He had been in cryptography for decades before Bitcoin was ever thought of. As a regular poster on the Cypherpunks mailing list. If you are a fan of cryptocurrency and you don’t know who or what “Cypherpunk” was I suggest you do a bit of research. These were the people that blazed the way for Bitcoin. I am quite certain that without this group of computer geniuses we would still be stuck with no other alternative than fiat. Fast forward to 2004 and you would witness the first creation of a reusable proof of work system. This predated Bitcoin by at least 5 years. This is one reason many folks believe Hal was in fact Satoshi Nakamoto. A statement that Hal repeatedly denied while he was alive. As far back as 1993 Hal was discussing a solution for solving the “double spend” issue that plagued the precursors to Bitcoin. Hal was a visionary, as he could see the issues cryptocurrency would face and started trying to solve them long before Bitcoin was ever implemented. Hal’s writing about “reusable proof of work” can be seen at the following link: https://ift.tt/2UWx1P4. The actual website can be found here for Hal’s project (which is now terminated) https://ift.tt/2CAlSMA. Hal was a known cypherpunk for decades and when Bitcoin came along, it was natural for Hal to be involved. He has every qualification to claim the name Satoshi Nakamoto, that is for sure. But lets focus on what we do know about him. He actually lived in the same city as Dorian Nakamoto (I discussed him in my last write up “Part 1”) This added fuel to the flames that Hal or Dorian were Satoshi, and they may or may not have worked together. Of course, it is speculation, but it is interesting none the less. Hal and Satoshi communicated regularly through email about BTC and these emails are now a part of the history of BTC. Some claim Hal was actually emailing himself in order to hide his tracks and cover up the fact that Hal was actually Satoshi, which is possible. Hal was a giant in the cryptography and cryptocurrency fields. If I were to personally come out and call anyone Satoshi it would be Hal Finney (Just my personal opinion). The history of Bitcoin would be incomplete without mentioning Hal Finney. Sadly Hal contracted Lou Gehrig’s disease and decided to announce the diagnosis publicly in October 2009. Even with death being a certainty Hal persisted and continued his work, even while using breathing assistance and being restricted to a wheelchair, until his death in August of 2014. His death was a blow to everyone that appreciated cryptography and knew of this brilliant mind. Hal selflessly sacrificed his time and efforts to ensure privacy would not disappear in the age of growing computer dominance. If you like Bitcoin, you should be thankful for Hal Finney. He was very influential in the creation of cryptocurrencies (Perhaps he was Satoshi) One thing we do know is we don’t know if it was Hal or not. Hal was a smart fella that could have very easily hidden his tracks. Hal was an advocate for privacy and for that I salute him. Thank you for your contributions Mr. Finney. Your legacy will live on through the next generation of developers you have inspired through your work. Rest in peace sir, your journey through life helped the world. We should all be thankful.
Submitted March 26, 2019 at 10:01PM
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