The crypto community remembers a key figure in Bitcoin history: Hal Finney, widely regarded as one of the top candidates for being Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator.
Twelve years ago, Hal Finney made his last post on the Bitcoin forum before stepping away from the public eye.
Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo highlighted this in a recent tweet: “12 years ago today, Hal Finney made his final post on the Bitcoin forum before logging off forever. Gone but not forgotten.”
✨ 12 years ago today, Hal Finney made his final post on the #Bitcoin forum before logging off forever
Gone but not forgotten 🧡 pic.twitter.com/AXB9cMMhil
— The Bitcoin Historian (@pete_rizzo_) August 9, 2025
Finney, an American software developer, was an early Bitcoin contributor, who received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto.
In March 2013, Finney revealed on a Bitcoin forum, BitcoinTalk, in an article titled “Bitcoin and Me (Hal Finney)” that he was practically paralyzed. Despite his condition, he stayed active in Bitcoin’s development and growing community until he stepped back due to his health.
In August 2013 Finney would later make his final post on the Bitcoin forum, logging off forever. Finney’s departure came about a year later, on Aug. 28, 2014, amid his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Satoshi mystery
Years after Finney exited the public eye and his passing, the mystery of Satoshi’s true identity remains unsolved.
Several prominent individuals, including Hal Finney, have been the subject of speculation. Finney was the first person other than Satoshi to download and run Bitcoin’s software, as well as the first to receive Bitcoin; nonetheless, he denied being Satoshi until he died in 2014.
The first Bitcoin was mined Jan. 3, 2009. Years after publishing the Bitcoin white paper and mining the genesis block, Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto vanished from the scene.
Satoshi sent an email to another Bitcoin developer on April 23, 2011, informing him that they had “moved on to other things” and that the cryptocurrency was “in good hands.” Since then, there has been no communication from the Bitcoin founder’s previously known email addresses.