Hal Finney

Bitcoin idea CPU power honest participants attacker

"Bitcoin seems to be a very promising idea. I like the idea of basing security on the assumption that the CPU power of honest participants outweighs that of the attacker. It is a very modern notion that exploits the power of the long tail."

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

computer tool liberate protect people control

"The computer can be used as a tool to liberate and protect people, rather than to control them."

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

rich bitcoin unearned wealth good use

"Since we're all rich with bitcoins ... we ought to put some of this unearned wealth to good use."

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

mining profitable Bitcoin free moneycost equipment

“Mining should not be too profitable (because nothing should be too profitable, the world doesn’t leave free money lying around). Therefore the price of Bitcoins can’t rise too much above the cost of mining (counting equipment depreciation among the costs of course).”

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

mining network expensive hard attacker dominate

“Ultimately it’s good for the network for mining to be expensive. It makes it that much harder for a well financed attacker to dominate the network.”

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

danger buy bitcoin expectation price bubble burst

“The danger is if people are buying bitcoins in the expectation that the price will go up, and the resulting increased demand is what is driving the price up. That is the definition of a BUBBLE, and as we all know, bubbles burst.”

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

Bitcoin reserve currency banks gold efficient tansactions

“I see Bitcoin as ultimately becoming a reserve currency for banks, playing much the same role as gold did in the early days of banking. Banks could issue digital cash with greater anonymity and lighter weight, more efficient transactions.”

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

bitcoin computational power network resistant attack expensive

“The computational power of the network is proportional to difficulty; and it appears that difficulty is proportional to bitcoin price. It follows that unless bitcoins become substantially more valuable than they are today, the Bitcoin network will never be substantially more resistant to attack than it is today. For Bitcoin to succeed and become secure, bitcoins must become vastly more expensive.”

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

computer privacy centralization control liberate

"Here we are faced with the problems of loss of privacy, creeping computerization, massive databases, more centralization – and Chaum offers a completely different direction to go in, one which puts power into the hands of individuals rather than governments and corporations. The computer can be used as a tool to liberate and protect people, rather than to control them."

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)

cryptography information control government key

“Cryptography can make possible a world in which people have control over information about themselves, not because government has granted them that control, but because only they posses the cryptographic keys to reveal that information …This is the world we are working to create.”

— Hal Finney (1956-2014)