$BTC Hal Finney, a cryptography pioneer, was among the first to embrace Bitcoin. In 2009, he received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, testing the network’s functionality. Finney also mined some of the earliest blocks, helping secure the blockchain in its infancy. A cypherpunk at heart, he believed in Bitcoin’s potential to revolutionize finance through decentralization. His early involvement lent credibility to the project, attracting other developers. Despite battling ALS until his death in 2014, Finney’s contributions remain vital to Bitcoin’s origin story. His faith in a nascent technology helped transform it from an experiment into a global phenomenon, cementing his legacy as a key figure in Bitcoin’s early days.