Hal Finney, Bitcoin Pioneer, Honored 17 Years After Tweet

On January 10, 2009, Hal Finney wrote “Running Bitcoin” on Twitter. Unknown to him, he had just engraved the public launch of the first decentralized digital currency network into modern monetary history. That day, he ran Satoshi Nakamoto’s software and became the very first recipient of a BTC transaction. Seventeen years later, yesterday January 10, 2026, this message still echoes as the founding act of a technological and financial revolution.

“Running Bitcoin”: the first public message of a network that became global

On January 10, 2009, Hal Finney soberly wrote “Running Bitcoin” on Twitter (now X). At that moment, he had just launched the Bitcoin software on his personal machine, becoming the very first user to run a node after Satoshi Nakamoto.

That same day, he received the first Bitcoin transaction in history: 10 BTC sent directly by Satoshi. At a time when the leading crypto is still stalling, those 10 bitcoins would represent a value of more than 900,000 dollars, although at the time they were still worth nothing on the market.

Finney, born in 1956 and a historic figure of the cypherpunk movement, was already a recognized expert in cryptography before the advent of bitcoin. His tweet, now considered a true founding act, has become a ritual landmark for the crypto community. It marks bitcoin’s entry into the real world, beyond the 2008 whitepaper. His key role in this initial phase of the network is indisputable. On this occasion, several key facts stand out:

• Hal Finney was the first to run the Bitcoin software after its creator ;

• He received the very first BTC transaction directly from Satoshi Nakamoto on January 10, 2009 ;

• The message “Running Bitcoin” became a symbolic archive, often celebrated on par with the Genesis Block ;

• Finney was a direct interlocutor of Satoshi, responding very early to the whitepaper and exchanging with him during the first tests ;

• He actively contributed to testing and improving the protocol, well before the arrival of any financial valuation of BTC.

An identity still debated, conflicting evidence

Alongside tributes to Hal Finney, the year 2024 saw the resurgence of speculation around the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

A documentary series produced by HBO, “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery“, claims to have identified the creator of bitcoin. Among the names mentioned, Hal Finney appears prominently. His cryptographic expertise, role as a primary tester, and technical proximity to Satoshi fuel the suspicions.

Moreover, according to period publications, Finney and his wife both owned Mac OS computers, while Satoshi seemed unfamiliar with this system, according to Laszlo Hanyecz, another historic developer of the project.

However, these arguments have been seriously challenged. In 2023, Jameson Lopp, cofounder of Casa, shared a compelling piece of evidence : an email exchange between Satoshi and another developer took place while Finney was running a marathon.

Satoshi’s last message is dated two minutes before Finney crossed the finish line, making it highly unlikely that he could be the message’s author. Such inconsistencies serve to weaken the Finney-Satoshi theory, although the creator’s identity remains a mystery to this day.

Seventeen years after this founding tweet, bitcoin continues its journey between myths and turmoil. While the community celebrates its origins, current events remind us of its volatility : Satoshi Nakamoto loses 20 billion in the worst crypto crash in history. A striking contrast between initial promises and the difficulties of an ever unpredictable market.