Several days ago, a really good piece by Forbes staff writer Andy Greenberg entitled Nakamoto’s Neighbor: My Hunt For Bitcoin’s Creator Led To A Paralyzed Crypto Genius began making its rounds on social media.
The piece, if you haven’t had a chance to read it, surrounds Hal Finney, one of the first people (aside from Satoshi Nakamoto) to embrace the bitcoin technology. I won’t go into specifics, but one of the things Greenberg’s piece focuses on is Finney’s deteriorating health.
Suffering from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a terminal illness affecting the muscles, Using eye movements, Finney is able to carry out yes-or-no communications — far from the days when he was able to utilize his eye movements to control a computer connected to his wheelchair.
On ventilator support around-the-clock, his wife Fran has become his caregiver full-time.
Also in the piece:
Fran declines to say just how much the family’s remaining Bitcoin savings are worth, but adds that the family has never had as much cryptocurrency wealth as is often rumored. Last year, she says, an extortion attempt threatened to release private information about the family online if Finney didn’t transfer a large number of bitcoins–more than he even had remaining after his medical expenses.
It’s no surprise that after reading this article, many in the community felt sorry for Finney. As such, Geenberg has today put together a bitcoin fundraiser to help the Finney family out with their expenses:
Donate bitcoins here to support Hal Finney: 18wfs69iiLUivru32EmVu4bmvrunBLptyN (via @franfinney) Full story here: http://t.co/g4ySg4eqKI
— Andy Greenberg (@a_greenberg) March 31, 2014
It mimics a fundraiser put together for Dorian Nakamoto by Andreas M. Antonopoulos. As you’re likely aware, Dorian was the man pegged by Newsweek as the creator of bitcoin.
In 23 days, over 47 BTC has been raised for Nakamoto, worth just over $21,000 at the current exchange rates. When I contacted Antonopoulos today, he said he would be donating the funds in-person in the near future.
You can view the donation history here: 18wfs69iiLUivru32EmVu4bmvrunBLptyN
Andy confirmed to newsBTC this afternoon the fundraiser is the real deal. The address was supplied by Fran Finney, who confirmed the fundraiser on her twitter account.