The First Bitcoin Transaction Happened Nearly Nine Years Ago

In less than a week, it is a historic day for Bitcoin. In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto sent the first ever non-mined Bitcoin transaction over the network to Hal Finney. This was just the start of things to come, and ever since, this virtual currency has just grown and grown, evolving into a massive peer-to-peer system.  There was some speculation between the two people, and many believe that Hal Finney is in fact also Satoshi Nakamoto, although this has never been proven. Regardless of who they were though, the transaction still took place.  Bitcoins official birthday, is in fact today, the 3rd January. This meant that the first transaction took place just nine days after. This is fast moving, and quite extraordinary. It is this first transaction that shaped Bitcoin into becoming what it is today.   Hal Finney was incredibly passionate about cryptocurrencies, meeting some of the best and brightest minds in the market. These included Nick Szabo and Wei Dai, who’s individual cryptocurrencies served as the building blocks for Bitcoin.  Hal Finney began mining in 2009, in order to test Bitcoin and strengthen the network. He was sent 10BTC by Satoshi as a test – an exhilarating moment that was then recorded in all the history books. Once the transaction was completed, it meant that the two could improve the Bitcoin client and protocol.  Soon after the first transaction took place, Finney was diagnosed with ALS, which left him paralysed. Despite this, he remained very confident about the future of Bitcoin, and stashed away some BTC in a safe deposit box before his death. This proved just how much he believed in this currency.   He was right to do so, as Bitcoin has had quite an eventful year, and is considered fairly mainstream now. The number of daily Bitcoin transactions have increased, and this number is continuing to rise. It is important though in all of this success to remember where this virtual currency came from, and now is an excellent day to do so. Image Source: Wikipedia Commons Sponsored by