Bitcoin Pioneer Hal Finney Likely Not Satoshi Nakamoto, New Evidence Indicates
By Benzinga
In the ongoing quest to find the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) , fresh evidence now questions the theory that Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney was, in fact, the elusive Satoshi. This new perspective is brought forth by Jameson Lopp, co-founder of Bitcoin custody firm Casa.
What Happened: Lopp’s research shed light against the possibility of Finney being Nakamoto. The main crux of his argument is based on the activity timeline of both individuals on April 18, 2009.
On this particular day, Hal Finney participated in a 10-mile race in Santa Barbara, California, starting at 8 a.m. Pacific time and finishing 78 minutes later. Meanwhile, Nakamoto was seen active online, engaging in timestamped email exchanges with early Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn. Additionally, Nakamoto also confirmed a Bitcoin transaction during the same time frame.
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Further evidence presented by Lopp includes a period when Finney was grappling with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which impacted his typing speed. However, during this phase, Nakamoto was seen actively coding and posting on forums.
Lopp also pointed out significant discrepancies between Finney’s Reusable Proofs of Work code and the original Bitcoin client code, which adds further fuel to the argument against Finney being Nakamoto.
While Lopp’s evidence seems substantial, he does concede that there could be counterarguments, such as Finney potentially scripting the emails and transactions in advance, or that Nakamoto could indeed be a pseudonym used by multiple individuals.
Why It Matters: The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains one of the most compelling mysteries in the world of cryptocurrency. While many have been linked to the pseudonym, no definitive proof has been presented so far.
Earlier this month, an X (Twitter) account with the name Satoshi Nakamoto resurfaced, after a five-year break on the social media platform. The tweet came from the account @satoshi which is also marked as “verified” with the blue tick.
Photo via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
