The crypto community is celebrating the birthday of Hal Finney who was a computer scientist and also the first person to publicly run Bitcoin (BTC), through an iconic tweet on Twitter in 2009.
Today is the first Bitcoiner’s birthday, so raise a glass to him. Today would have been Hal Finney’s birthday, as he was the first individual to receive a Bitcoin transaction from none other than Satoshi Nakamoto.
Hal Finney of Bitcointalk.org said he “grabbed it immediately quickly” when Satoshi initially released the software.
“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.”
The 10 Bitcoin transaction’s wallet address tells a story: the value of Bitcoin soared to 10 Bitcoin in 2009 (approximately $400,000 in today’s values), but before Bitcoin had a dollar-denominated value.
Finney was a “visionary” for Pete Rizzo, publisher of Kraken and Bitcoin magazine:
Finney died in Phoenix in 2014 from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often known as motor neuron disease. He was cryopreserved by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation and may be brought back to life via a technological medium in the future as an eternal technologist.
Finney was known for more than only running Bitcoin before being diagnosed with the terrible illness: up until September 6th, 2009, he raced half-marathons.
As part of his legacy, several Bitcoin foundations and charities hold running events, such as “Running Bitcoin,” to raise funds for ALS research.
