Hey Bitcoin fans, I've been checking out the blockchain and its history lately. I've come across people donating or burning coins to addresses linked to Satoshi, like the very first sending address and the one that received the Genesis block.
But here's the thing: over all these years, nobody seems to have given or burned coins to Hal Finney, who could actually be Satoshi himself, in my opinion.
Here's Hal's address if you wanna check it out:
1AiBYt8XbsdyPAELFpcSwRpu45eb2bArMf
According to the blockchain, there's only been one donation or burn to that address since 2009.
So why is it that no one's sent coins to that wallet? I mean, without him, Bitcoin wouldn’t even exist for any of us. What's up with the Genesis address getting all the love? Is there some kind of hidden agenda against the network or what?
Gregory
Hal Finney was proven by Jameson Lopp as not a Satoshi Nakamoto.
Hal Finney was not Satoshi Nakamoto.
You firstly need to read that article for more information but you have rights to disagree with that, however let's say you need to have evidence for backing your disagreement with findings from Jameson Lopp.
First of all, the cultural and symbolic effect matters. The early "Satoshi addresses" have become a public memorial symbol of Bitcoin, so people send "donation burns" there as a ritual. It is not just burning - it is burning on an altar.
Second, regarding Hal's addresses, I have never heard that the private keys are definitely lost. What if they still exist somewhere, and I send bitcoins there to burn them, but it turns out I simply gifted them to someone who does not deserve it?
My thoughts too. Why would I even be interested in burning bitcoins that are not unlimited? It is simply a waste and a waste of time and resource. If I have enough to donate, it makes more sense to give to developers doing a great work to improve the network and not to some addresses who do not really need them. To the best of my knowledge, Satoshi isn't coming back and would probably never need the coins people send him. What am I even saying? The address has more than one million bitcoins so why send more? Why waste more?
The public key of that address did receive some BTC prior to 2019, thats why theres a discrepancy between different block explorers.
https://mempool.space/address/04fd024595ebaa7a83bd672cd7d59e6eb42f0f04e7dc77a4f0634e45c2420d8a949cba06cde901f23d52cda564d494d172ba80281fa2d9c2a2e825e9c462be0da6
It's just like telling someone like me that's yet to acquire enough Bitcoin to donate to Hal because of his contributions to Bitcoin, dude has enough and should be the one gifting me if possible other than me giving the little I have to him.
Also, I really don't know why people are playing detective concerning the identity of Satoshi, does it really matter? If person or people behind the name wanted to be discovered, they or he would've left a clue but then Satoshi decided to be anonymous for a reason so people to channel their attention to owning more Bitcoins than discovering the creator.
That Satoshi's Bitcoin address is symbolic to all Bitcoiners as it is the Genesis Block and so the beginning of what is to become the revolution that we are in right now.
Hal Finney is also a legendary figure, but he is not Satoshi, and that address doesn't have that impact as the Genesis block. And I think there's no need of comparing the two. Both has it's position in Bitcoin's history.
Agreed.
I also still think why it would be an attack on the network.. That's just like bringing flowers to the places where your loved ones were, memorial of sorts.
We don't burn coin in bitcoin, be corrected, burning is mostly used in altcoins, secondly, don't be deceived, Hal Finney is well known and has passed on years ago, he is not Satoshi, no one know Satoshi, but in your own definition and understanding, if you choose to assume he was Satoshi, so be it.
When you see him, reserve these questions for him, because he is the only one in the best position to answer all these, who are we to give a reply on what transpired when we were not there.
You didn't need to create a fresh account because you wanted to disagree with what many here would consider the right line of thought that Hal wasn't Satoshi. You're entitled to your opinion just like others are to theirs. No need to fear any backlash.
Actually, two donations. One happened in February 2019 and another was last year, July 2025. The amounts were highly negligible to the point I'm of the opinion they were mistakenly sent there.
Sentiments apart, it won't make any sense doing that. To what use will that be?
That's not Hal's more widely known address. It should be the address in this transaction hash, f4184fc596403b9d638783cf57adfe4c75c605f6356fbc91338530e9831e9e16 (1Q2TWHE3GMdB6BZKafqwxXtWAWgFt5Jvm3).
This transaction was when Satoshi gave Hal 10 BTC, and it was the first transaction between "2 people" in the Bitcoin network(1). This address frequently received small transfers afterward, most between 2023 and 2025(2).
1) https://gist.github.com/johnzweng/09aa944d9379607ce2442c8199034b59
2) https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1Q2TWHE3GMdB6BZKafqwxXtWAWgFt5Jvm3
Hal Finney is a developer, and he run Bitcoin full node, mine bitcoins so he possibly created and used different wallets and addresses too. We never know how many wallets, addresses Hal Finney created and used like we don't know about these things owned by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Running Bitcoin https://x.com/halfin/status/1110302988
About the transaction between Satoshi and Hal, there is an interesting topic on it.
Payment No. 1: A Closer Look at the Very First Bitcoin Transfer
While many people know about Satoshi, many don't know about Hal, and those who do know may be aware that his addresses are somewhat unsafe, given that someone was signing messages from those addresses long after his death. The assumption is that the same addresses are under the control of his children or perhaps have been hacked/sold.
With all that said, Hal is no longer alive, and those who send coins to Satoshi addresses may be hoping that he will one day return the favor with a generous donation.