Hal Finney and the mystery that Bitcoin has yet to solve

Seventeen years ago, on January 11, 2009, a software engineer known as Hal Finney wrote what would become the first public comment about Bitcoin in internet history. At that time, the cryptocurrency had no market value, no trading platforms, and no clear future. Finney was one of the few who believed that this decentralized idea could thrive. His early contributions—immediately downloading Satoshi Nakamoto’s code, running the network, mining the first blocks, and receiving the first BTC transaction—are recorded in Bitcoin’s annals. However, the story Finney left about his own involvement in the project reveals something much deeper: a conflict that Bitcoin, as a network and as technology, has still not satisfactorily resolved.

The Cypherpunk Facing a Degenerative Disease

Shortly after confirming that Bitcoin could operate in the real world, Finney was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that gradually paralyzed him. As his physical abilities declined, his dedication did not waver. He adapted his environment using eye-tracking technology and assistive devices, allowing him to continue programming and participating in the Bitcoin ecosystem for years. At the same time, he faced an uncomfortable practical reality: how to ensure his bitcoins remained secure during his lifetime and, afterward, accessible to his heirs?

The solution was straightforward but imperfect: cold storage and trust placed in family members. This approach, documented in writings from 2013, reflects a fundamental limitation of Bitcoin that persists today among most long-term holders, even in an era of institutional custody, ETFs, and regulated financial products.

Bitcoin Versus the Human Condition

Bitcoin was created to eliminate intermediaries and trust in centralized institutions. But Finney’s experience exposed an uncomfortable paradox: a system designed without intermediaries still depends, however, on human continuity. Private keys do not age. People do. Illness does not enter the protocol. Death does not either. Legacies, even less so.

This means that Bitcoin, in its purest form, does not recognize situations of incapacity, inheritance, or generational transfer unless these are managed off-chain. A Bitcoin holder affected by a terminal illness, an accident, or simply old age faces the same challenge Finney did: creating parallel systems, trusting third parties, or risking that their assets will be lost forever.

The Transformation of Bitcoin: From Cypherpunk Experiment to Global Infrastructure

Bitcoin in 2009 was an ideological experiment run by enthusiastic cryptographers. Bitcoin in 2026 is a globally traded asset class, custodied by banks, investment funds, and governments. Spot ETFs, centralized custody platforms, and regulatory frameworks now define how most capital interacts with Bitcoin.

However, this institutionalization presents its own contradiction. These structures often exchange individual sovereignty for operational convenience, raising the question of whether Bitcoin’s central promise—full user control—has been diluted in practice. Finney perceived this tension even in his time. He deeply believed in Bitcoin’s long-term potential but was also aware of how much his own success depended on circumstances, timing, and luck. He documented witnessing Bitcoin’s first major crash and learning to emotionally detach from volatility—a mindset later adopted by generations of investors.

The Unresolved Legacy

Finney never portrayed his life as epic or tragic. He considered himself fortunate to have been present at the origins, to have contributed significantly to the project, and to have left something tangible for his family. Seventeen years after his first message about Bitcoin, this perspective gains increasing relevance.

Bitcoin has proven it can survive turbulent markets, adverse regulations, and political pressure. What remains an unresolved issue is how a system designed to transcend institutions adapts to the finite nature of its users. Hal Finney’s true legacy is not only in being a pioneer but in having identified the central question Bitcoin must answer as it moves from code to permanent financial infrastructure: how does a network that does not recognize human mortality build structures that enable inheritance, intergenerational security, and individual sovereignty simultaneously?