The Satoshi Mystery: 12 Years Since the Last Bitcoin Message from a Satoshi Candidate

The cryptocurrency community still remembers a key figure in Bitcoin's history: Hal Finney, considered one of the top candidates for the title of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin under this pseudonym. Twelve years ago, Hal Finney posted his last message on the Bitcoin forum before stepping away from the public eye.

Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo highlighted this in a recent tweet: "12 years ago, Hal Finney posted his final message on the Bitcoin forum before leaving forever. Gone but not forgotten."

Finney, an American software developer, was one of the first contributors to Bitcoin, having received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto.

In March 2013, Finney revealed on the Bitcoin forum, BitcoinTalk, in a post titled "Bitcoin and Me (Hal Finney)" that he was nearly paralyzed. Despite his illness, he remained actively involved in the development and growth of the Bitcoin community until he stepped back for health reasons.

In August 2013, Finney posted his final message on the Bitcoin forum and permanently logged out. Finney passed away about a year later, on August 28, 2014, during his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The Satoshi Mystery

Many years after Finney disappeared from public life and passed away, the mystery of Satoshi's true identity remains unsolved.

Several notable individuals, including Hal Finney, became subjects of discussion. Finney was the first person outside of Satoshi to download and run the Bitcoin software, as well as the first to receive Bitcoin; however, he denied being Satoshi until his death in 2014.

Bitcoin was first mined on January 3, 2009. Many years after the publication of the Bitcoin whitepaper and the mining of the genesis block, the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, vanished from the scene.

Satoshi emailed another Bitcoin developer on April 23, 2011, informing them that they had "moved on to other things" and that the cryptocurrency was "being well managed." Since then, there has been no communication from the previous email addresses of the Bitcoin founder.