Finey was a well-known programmer in the world of cryptography. He was employed as the second developer at PGP Corporation, where he worked on early versions of PGP encryption. He belonged to the group of "Cypirots", which brought together people who promoted cryptographic security and privacy in a modern digital world exposed to surveillance.
Bitcoin fascinated from the very beginning of its existence and helped to develop it. He was the second miner after Stoshim Nakamoto, and had already dug a block of 70 (he doesn't remember which block himself). A few days later, however, he stopped digging, which he regretted admitting years later. It was also the recipient of the first bitcoin transaction in history.
Unfortunately, as early as August 2009, the Hall was diagnosed with lateral atrophy. This is an incurable disease and Hal learned that he had only a few years left to live. Nevertheless, he continued to help support Bitcoin's development. At the beginning of 2011, the progressive disease became more and more troublesome, which significantly hindered its programming. In 2013 it was completely paralysed. The computer could control only the movement of the eyeballs. Nevertheless, he continued to work on securing Bitcoin's portfolios. As he said, he was proud to have participated in the beginnings of such a fantastic project.
A large part of his Bitcoins consumed treatment costs. To top it all off, in the last year of his life, he received anonymous blackmail attempts to extort 1000 BTCs. He did not leave huge amounts of Bitcoins in the inheritance, but properly educated his wife and children from the principles of safe handling. He hoped that in the future they would gain a lot of value and secure their future.
It was amazing that until the very end of his life Hal remained a cheerful and optimistic man.
Hal Finey died on August 28, 2014. According to his will, the body was frozen with liquid nitrogen by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Hal said that he believed in the enormous development of technology in the future and that there was little chance that he would still be able to enjoy life.
Until today, some people speculate whether Hal Finey could actually have been Satoshim Nakamoto. In any case, he is a legendary co-founder of Bitcoin and has forever become a part of its history.
Finey Hall Profile at bitcointalk.org
