25-year old video shows Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney talking zero-knowledge proofs

Finney, who received the first bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, was recorded presenting code at the Crypto ‘98 conference

article-image

Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

A newly-unearthed video shows the Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney giving a talk on zero-knowledge proofs at the Crypto ‘98 conference. 

In the video, Finney talks about performing a zero-knowledge proof on a SHA-1 hash, demonstrating the existence of a cryptographically scrambled message without disclosing any details about the message. At the time of Finney’s talk, zero-knowledge proofs were known to be theoretically possible, but were generally viewed as inefficient or unfeasible.

“I wanted to find out just how inefficient or impractical they really are,” Finney says in the video before proposing a zero-knowledge proof system.

Much of Finney’s life was marked by challenging the boundaries of what was deemed possible. In 2009, the cypherpunk was the first bitcoin recipient, receiving ten bitcoin from the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto. The same year, Finney was diagnosed with ALS. Just shortly after, he wrote in a blog post: “[M]y dream is to contribute to open source software projects even from within an immobile body. That will be a life very much worth living.” Finney died in 2014 and is cryopreserved in Arizona.

The subject of Finney’s 25-year old talk remains vexing today. Ethereum layer-2s are locked in an arms race building zero-knowledge proofs to scale the ecosystem. However, the efficacy of this technology is yet to be established. Implementing zero-knowledge proofs can be prohibitively costly or compromise security, rendering them inefficient and impractical.

In Finney-ian fashion, though, crypto developers are still chipping away at a solution.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

The stablecoin issuer now plans to offer 32 million Class A common stock shares at a price of up to $28 each

article-image

Let’s go whale watching, Bitcoin style: Investigating the mysterious “12ib7” wallet now worth $3.2 billion

article-image

Bitget’s L2 is undergoing a leadership change and will be helmed by Colin Goltra, formerly the blockchain’s chief growth officer

article-image

The funding was spread out across 61 rounds, a slight dip in both number of rounds and total funding in comparison to other months

article-image

Why is it controversial to say things are better than they used to be?

article-image

Wallchain could make influencer ROI more measurable for Solana businesses