First Steps: The First Believer

💡 Witness the epic story of Bitcoin's first witness. When Satoshi Nakamoto faced an empty digital world alone, a terminally ill cypherpunk elder became the second believer. Hal Finney not only received the first Bitcoin transaction but, more importantly, transformed a personal creation into a community endeavor. This is an eternal parable about the transmission of faith.

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"I'm pretty optimistic about the prospects for a cryptocurrency. I think this is a very promising idea, I hope we can develop something here."

——Hal Finney, January 10, 2009

📅 January 8, 2009, Day 5 after Bitcoin's birth

The genesis block had landed, but only solitary heartbeat packets flickered on the screen. Satoshi Nakamoto faced the empty Bitcoin network alone, like an empty house where voices were swallowed by walls, seemingly waiting for an echo.

This was the first hurdle all great creations face: from solitary creation to shared endeavor.

The network needed a second node, the revolution needed a second believer. History needed a witness to prove this wasn't one person's fantasy, but humanity's shared possibility.

That day, when a familiar name appeared in the Cypherpunk mailing list, everything changed: Hal Finney.

The Echo of a Legendary Veteran

Hal Finney was a name known to virtually everyone in the cryptography world. 📅 May 4, 1956, Finney was born in Pasadena, California, less than ten miles from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Perhaps this technological atmosphere instilled his childhood fascination with computers. 📅 1974, graduating from Caltech's Computer Science program, Finney could have joined any major corporation for a comfortable life, but he chose a harder path—changing the world through code.

📅 1991, when most people didn't understand what "privacy" meant in the digital age, Finney had already joined the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) development team. PGP was humanity's first truly practical public-key encryption software, enabling ordinary people to protect their emails from surveillance. In an era when governments classified encryption software as "munitions," PGP developers were all brave warriors. The National Security Agency (NSA) placed PGP on export control lists, prohibiting overseas distribution, and founder Phil Zimmermann even faced criminal prosecution. But Finney and his companions believed: Privacy is a fundamental human right, encryption is freedom's guarantee. They devised a clever resistance method: publishing PGP's source code as books. Under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the government couldn't prohibit book publication and distribution. This "code is speech" resistance became a classic case for the entire cypherpunk movement.

📅 1992, Finney became one of the founding members of the cypherpunk mailing list, joining Eric Hughes and Timothy C. May to form the core of this world-changing technical community. 📅 2004, Finney developed the RPOW (Reusable Proofs of Work) system—the first reusable proof-of-work currency based on hashcash. Though this system still relied on centralized servers, it proved the feasibility of proof-of-work currencies, paving the way for Bitcoin's birth. Finney deeply believed in one concept: Code is Law. He thought that rather than hoping governments would restrain themselves, it was better to use code to build systems that required no trust.

This was Hal Finney—cypherpunk spiritual leader, PGP pioneer developer, idealistic warrior of free software. But fate played a cruel joke on this idealistic warrior. 📅 2009, the very year Bitcoin was born, Finney was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)—Lou Gehrig's disease. This cruel disease gradually robs patients of motor function, muscles gradually atrophy, and eventually even breathing becomes difficult. The doctor's diagnosis was harsh: average survival is only 2-5 years. Facing death's sentence, Finney didn't choose despair. Time's scarcity made him treasure each day more, focusing on truly important things.

📅 October 31, 2008, when he saw Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin whitepaper in the cypherpunk mailing list, this cryptographic veteran's intuition immediately told him: this was the most important innovation he'd seen in his lifetime. 📅 November 7, 2008, Finney posted a reply in the cypherpunk mailing list that would be recorded in history:

"Bitcoin seems to be a very promising idea. I like the idea of basing security on the assumption that the CPU power of honest participants outweighs that of the attacker. It is a very modern notion that exploits the power of the long tail."

The profundity of this comment lay in Finney's immediate understanding of Bitcoin's security model core mechanism: distributed consensus achieves security through economic incentives. He recognized this wasn't just technical innovation, but a perfect combination of game theory and cryptography. More importantly, Finney was the first well-known cryptographer to publicly support Bitcoin. His endorsement was crucial for this newly born project. In the cypherpunk community, Finney's words carried weight. If even the PGP developer and RPOW creator thought Bitcoin was worth trying, then this project must have unique value. This reply was like the first ray of dawn in the dark night, giving tremendous encouragement to the lonely Satoshi Nakamoto.

The Second Node and Ten Bitcoins

📅 January 9, 2009, history was quietly rewritten in tranquility. In his home study, Finney downloaded Bitcoin software's first version, Bitcoin v0.1. Command line windows scrolled debugging information line by line as the second Bitcoin node quietly came online. In that moment, Finney made a seemingly simple but profoundly meaningful move: he posted a message on Twitter:

"Running bitcoin"

Just three English words, but they announced one of Bitcoin's most important moments. This tweet's historical value lay in: it marked Bitcoin's formal transformation from Satoshi Nakamoto's personal experiment to a community project. From a technical perspective, the second node's addition verified Bitcoin network's distributed characteristics—two nodes could achieve true peer-to-peer communication, verify the proof-of-work mechanism, and synchronize blockchain data. From a social perspective, Finney's participation proved Bitcoin wasn't Satoshi's personal conceit, but innovation that could gain technical community recognition.

Finney quickly realized the ingenuity of Satoshi's design. Proof-of-work, distributed ledgers, digital signatures—he was familiar with all these technologies, but Satoshi's combination method was unprecedented. As RPOW's creator, Finney deeply understood the technical challenges facing proof-of-work currencies. But Bitcoin solved problems RPOW couldn't through clever incentive design and distributed consensus mechanisms: how to prevent double-spending without central servers.

Hours later, the two began deep technical exchanges: crash log analysis, network protocol debugging, mining algorithm optimization, data structure refinement. No slogans or manifestos, only questions and answers; no theoretical empty talk, only code and tests. Understanding brought trust, trust catalyzed cooperation, and the network first gained the outline of a "team." This pure technical exchange established Bitcoin community's core culture: Code speaks louder than words.

📅 January 12, 2009, history was quietly written on an ordinary Monday. At 03:30:25 GMT, Satoshi Nakamoto sent Hal Finney humanity's first peer-to-peer digital currency transaction:

Transaction Hash: f4184fc596403b9d638783cf57adfe4c75c605f6356fbc91338530e9831e9e16
Block Height: 170
Sender Address: 12cbQLTFMXRnSzktFkuoG3eHoMeFtpTu3S
Receiver Address: 1Q2TWHE3GMdB6BZKafqwxXtWAWgFt5Jvm3  
Amount: 10.00000000 BTC
Transaction Time: 2009-01-12 03:30:25 UTC
Block Reward: 50 BTC (to miner Satoshi Nakamoto)
Network Fee: 0 BTC
Confirmation Time: ~10 minutes

This transfer seemed simple but held profound meaning. Technically, it verified Bitcoin network's core functions: digital signature mechanisms worked normally, proof-of-work consensus operated effectively, distributed ledgers synchronized successfully, transaction verification algorithms executed correctly. Economically, it pioneered digital scarcity: 10 bitcoins had no market value then, but possessed all currency's basic attributes—scarcity, divisibility, portability, durability, verifiability—laying foundations for later value discovery. Philosophically, it realized cypherpunks' ultimate ideal: value transferred without any intermediary, two strangers established trust through pure mathematics, proving "Code is Law" feasibility.

When Finney received those 10 bitcoins, he emailed a friend: "I just received history's first Bitcoin transfer. This might be a beginning." He didn't know this "beginning" would change the entire world. Symbolically, those 10 bitcoins were like Prometheus's stolen fire, lighting the digital world's first lamp. They proved a revolutionary fact: value could be created, transmitted, and verified without any centralized authority. From this moment, Bitcoin transformed from personal creation to community endeavor. Satoshi provided the blueprint, Finney provided trust. This transmission of trust is the starting point of all great innovations.

Faith Inheritance and Eternal Memorial

Over the following months, Finney became Bitcoin's most faithful supporter and evangelist. He not only continuously ran nodes but actively participated in technical discussions, suggesting code improvements. More importantly, he used his reputation in the cryptographic world to provide credit endorsement for the Bitcoin project. When other cypherpunks expressed doubts about Bitcoin, Finney always patiently explained its technical principles and potential value: "I want to emphasize that Bitcoin is actually a very ingenious design. It solves the double-spending problem we've always faced, without any centralized authority. This is a major breakthrough in cryptographic history." Finney's support was crucial for the early Bitcoin community. He was like a bridge connecting Satoshi's innovation and the cypherpunk community's acceptance.

📅 Second half of 2009, as more developers joined, the Bitcoin network began truly becoming active. Node count grew from 2 to dozens, code continuously improved, community gradually formed. Satoshi's once lonely experiment was becoming a vibrant ecosystem. But simultaneously, ALS was ravaging Finney's body. Muscle atrophy made typing increasingly difficult, participating in discussions increasingly strenuous. 📅 2010, Finney had to gradually reduce his activity in the Bitcoin community. But even under the disease's torment, he still closely followed this project's development.

He said in an interview: "When I was diagnosed with ALS, I realized how precious time is. I want to invest my remaining time in truly important things. Bitcoin lets me see a better future—a world without centralized control, without monetary manipulation, where everyone can trade freely. Even if I can't see that day, I want to work for it." 📅 2013, when Bitcoin price first broke $1,000, some calculated Finney's Bitcoin wealth. Besides the 10 bitcoins Satoshi sent him, Finney had obtained large amounts of bitcoins through early mining. At then-current prices, he was one of the world's wealthiest Bitcoin holders. But Finney never sold these bitcoins, even facing high medical costs. When a reporter asked why, he said: "These bitcoins aren't just investments to me, but symbols of faith. I believe this system will change the world, and I want to express my conviction through holding."

📅 August 28, 2014, Hal Finney peacefully left this world. He didn't see Bitcoin's later brilliance: didn't see it break $100,000, didn't see Wall Street giants go crazy for it, didn't see entire countries adopt it as legal tender, and certainly didn't see it help countless people achieve financial freedom. But he saw the most important thing: a great idea's seed had taken root and sprouted in suitable soil.

After Finney's death, his body was cryogenically preserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, becoming their 128th "patient." The $200,000 freezing fee came from his early mining Bitcoin proceeds. Even facing death, Finney maintained optimism about the future and faith in technology. He believed someday science could conquer death, just as Bitcoin conquered traditional monetary system flaws. Those 10 bitcoins Satoshi transferred to him still quietly rest on the blockchain at address 1Q2TWHE3GMdB6BZKafqwxXtWAWgFt5Jvm3. They're like some digital monument witnessing Bitcoin history's most important inheritance moment. By 2025 Bitcoin prices, those 10 BTC are worth over $1 million. But their historical value is priceless—they represent faith's inheritance, ideal's continuation, and humanity's courage facing the unknown.

Ideals Are Immortal, Inheritance Is Eternal

Hal Finney's story isn't just a technical pioneer's biography, but an eternal parable about faith inheritance. In Bitcoin's historical flow, Satoshi Nakamoto was the creator, but Finney was the inheritor. A genius idea can truly change the world only when it gains recognition and propagation from like-minded individuals. Finney used his technical acuity to identify Bitcoin's value, used his reputation to provide credit endorsement for Bitcoin, used his participation to transform Bitcoin from personal project to community endeavor. More importantly, Finney represented a spirit: even facing life's limitations, strive for infinite possibilities.

When doctors told him time was short, he didn't choose despair but chose to invest remaining time in the most meaningful things. He believed Bitcoin could make the world better, so he was willing to fight for it until the last moment. This spirit later became the entire Bitcoin community's spiritual core: perfect combination of idealism and technical rationality, harmonious unity of personal conviction and collective endeavor. Starting from Hal Finney, Bitcoin's flame began passing: from cypherpunks to programmers, from technical geeks to ordinary users, from early adopters to institutional investors, from marginal experiments to global phenomena. Each new node's addition made the network stronger. Each code improvement made the system more perfect. Each believer's propagation sowed seeds of change. Satoshi Nakamoto lit the flame, Finney completed the transmission. The following story would be written by thousands of participants.

When we look back at that simple yet sacred moment—the first transfer on January 12, 2009—we see not just 10 bitcoins' movement, but a faith's birth, a community's beginning, a revolution's starting point, an era's dawn. Hal Finney used his life to interpret what it means: Ideals are immortal, inheritance is eternal. He might not have imagined that simple "Running bitcoin" tweet would become one of Bitcoin history's most iconic moments. He might not have foreseen that 10-bitcoin transfer would become the genesis record of the value internet era. But he certainly knew he was participating in historic change. He certainly believed this small experiment would grow into a towering tree. He certainly had faith that the ideal's flame would pass on until it illuminated the entire world.

📅 January 9, 2009, when Finney typed "Running bitcoin," Bitcoin truly began its legendary journey. From that lonely genesis block to today's trillion-dollar market cap; from a two-node experimental network to a global distributed system with tens of thousands of nodes; from cypherpunk idealistic experiment to world-changing financial infrastructure. All this started with Hal Finney's response. Bitcoin's first believer, eternal symbol of ideal inheritance, spiritual exemplar of cypherpunks—this is the legacy Hal Finney left the world. His physical body sleeps in liquid nitrogen, but his spirit lives forever in the blockchain, in the hearts of everyone who believes in a decentralized future.

Besides being cryogenically preserved, Hal Finney's Twitter account @halfin still exists today, serving as a digital museum of Bitcoin history. His last tweet was posted on August 27, 2014, the day before his death, with simple content: "Thank you." These two words might be his final farewell to the entire Bitcoin community.