Fifteen years ago, on January 12, 2009, the creator of Bitcoin, known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, conducted the first cryptocurrency transaction, sending 10 BTC to cryptographer Hal Finney.
First #bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto to Hal Finney.https://t.co/Rfpp0PgL0x
— bitcoin-bill.org (@SatoshisQuest) January 12, 2024
Hal Finney collaborated with PGP Corporation for many years, developing encryption products. He launched the first anonymous remailer and was part of the early mailing list among cypherpunks.
Six months before his death in August 2014, Finney described his experience with the digital gold:
“When Satoshi released the software, I immediately connected. 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.”
Hal Finney played a crucial role in the history of digital gold and was among the first to predict Bitcoin’s future price. Based on an estimate of global household wealth at $100-300 trillion, he forecasted that the value of 1 BTC would eventually reach ~$10 million.
Finney mined several blocks on his personal computer. Since then, cryptocurrency mining has evolved into an industry using specialized high-performance devices, with the network’s hash rate exceeding 600 EH/s (BitInfoCharts).
In December 2022, Finney’s account on X unexpectedly became active after eight years of inactivity. His wife, Fran, urged Elon Musk not to delete her late husband’s account, who passed away in 2014 after an illness, as part of the fight against bots.
The community supported her. From January 1 to 10, 2023, the #RunningBitcoinChallenge initiative took place. As part of the charity event, Bitcoin investors participated in runs, raising $50,000 to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which Hal Finney suffered from.
At the beginning of 2024, Fran announced the launch of the initiative once again.
Hi everyone, Fran Finney, wife of Hal Finney, here. I’d like to share exciting news with you. Today the 3rd Running Bitcoin Challenge (@RunningBTC21k) is starting again.
Join us at https://t.co/YcfQGubYrA & let’s heal ALS!
#RunningBitcoinChallenge 1/4https://t.co/xpcvzCmtMd— halfin (@halfin) January 3, 2024
On January 11, Bitcoin’s price surpassed $48,000 following the launch of spot ETF trading based on the asset on US stock exchanges. Approved issuers include Bitwise, Grayscale, Hashdex, BlackRock, Valkyrie, BZX, Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton.
At the time of writing, digital gold is trading above $46,360, having gained 1.3% in 24 hours (CoinGecko).
Previously, Robert Kiyosaki predicted Bitcoin’s rise to $150,000 following ETF approval.
Macroeconomic strategist Henrik Zeberg predicted a “fantastic” bull run for the crypto market in 2024, during which Bitcoin’s price will reach $150,000.