Bitcoin and me (Hal Finney) (2013)

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=155054.0

by jc123 • 12 years ago

94 29 12 years ago

KhalPanda3• 12 years ago

I got curious when he said he mined block 70-something. Block #78 is the only one (in the 70's) that was transferred to a wallet with any activity - I followed said activity for a little bit, and it looks like he had 2,000 BTC strewn across a bunch of wallets that he moved to one wallet in 2011. Not too shabby for an accidental nest-egg! :-)

jebus9892• 12 years ago

Did you miss the poignant and moving story of the onset of a terminal illness, christ.

KhalPanda3• 12 years ago

Of course not. I just didn't have anything to add that wasn't already said perfectly by the users in that thread.

sspiff3• 12 years ago

Why does that make his comment less relevant or correct? Should we all just comment "so sad, he's way to young/talented/... to die"? Illness and death are just as ubiquitous and universal as they are sad. People get sick and die. Young people die. Talented people die.

I fail to understand how people make such a big deal out of developers dieing.

verroq4• 12 years ago

Sorry all I got out was "I participated in a Ponzi scheme early and benefited".

davidw2• 12 years ago

That's really cold, even though I'm not much of a bitcoin believer either. And actually, it seems he hasn't necessarily benefited yet, because he's going to hold on to his bitcoins for the future. I would urge him to sell, say, half of them, at the very least and put those in more conventional investments, for his kids' sakes.

DanBC• 12 years ago

At the very least make sure the important passwords he wants to pass on are kept securely and kept accessible.

clarkm• 12 years ago

It has a lot more in common with "I was an early employee in a successful startup" than "I participated in a Ponzi scheme early".

I like to think of the Bitcoin protocol as a transaction service and the coins as shares of equity.

verroq4• 12 years ago

I disagree, when I invest on a start up, those shares have inherent value because they are backed by a real company, not hype.

ekianjo• 12 years ago

Thats all you have to say after reading such an article? Do you mean the guy is a bastard ?

Patient0• 12 years ago

technically, if it really is a Ponzi scheme as you state then you're saying that bitcoins will ultimately be worth zero. But in that case, he hasn't actually sold his bitcoins yet, so he hasn't benefited from the Ponzi scheme.

red12ooster• 12 years ago

tsk tsk tsk.

acjohnson553• 12 years ago

Volatile object speculation, crapshoot, recurring bubble, vehicle of money laundering. There are plenty of disses against Bitcoin that at least have some validity. I'm sure there's more. But save Ponzi Scheme for things that actually fit the description.

verroq4• 12 years ago

The current trend with bitcoin is: buy bitcoin now, it'll go up, it'll be 10k by next year.

It's current valuation backed by nothing except hype, once there's not enough hype to keep the price afloat: there will be a lot of bag holders.

oafitupa• 12 years ago

Sorry all I got out was "I'm a butthurt and don't even understand Bitcoin".

verroq4• 12 years ago

The only reason BTC price rises is because of hype and idiots buying into the hype. Once the hype dies (as it's dying now), you can experience the pleasure of bag-holding.

Why don't you all in BTC? You are free to laugh at me when it hits 1k again.

nly2• 12 years ago

March 2013. Anyone know how Hal is doing now? Still coding?

KhalPanda3• 12 years ago

All I know is that his account on Bitcointalk was last active yesterday.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2436

nly2• 12 years ago

Good sign I guess, he hasn't posted in a long time though. Not that I can blame him, the SNR on that forum is appalling.

acjohnson553• 12 years ago

Wow, really touching. It's amazing to read his optimism about life and the Bitcoin project even after all he's going through. Here's hoping he continues to defy the odds, like Stephen Hawking has.

Before yesterday, I thought Hal Finney was probably the leading candidate for being Satoshi. Him, Nick Szabo, Wei Dai, or some combination thereof. But now it seems far more likely that Satoshi is Satoshi.

sillysaurus3• 12 years ago

now it seems far more likely that Satoshi is Satoshi.

Actually, Satoshi Nakamoto denied being Dorian Nakamoto. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7358150

acjohnson553• 12 years ago

That's why I said "far more likely" and not "certain". I commented on that article, if you check my history.

christiangenco• 12 years ago

Wow, that ending hit me like a ton of bricks. I certainly have sympathy for those who invested their life savings into the Mt Gox crash and lost everything, but I doubt I could find a single one of them that could trade places with Hal and have half of his positive attitude.

Really helps put things in perspective.

Bitcoin and me (Hal Finney) (2013)

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