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.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) represent low-hanging fruit in a massive market ripe for Web3-driven disruption. The global CDN market was valued at ~$28B in 2024, and is projected to surpass $140B by 2034, (18.75% CAGR) underscoring the immense demand for efficient content delivery.

article-image

The $135 million raise shows that TradFi giants are serious about crypto adoption

article-image

The banking system still processes payments like it’s 1975. Crypto might have a fix.

article-image

Fiserv’s launch follows Senate passage of the GENIUS Act for stablecoin regulation.

article-image

Bitcoin is emerging as “the new standard for long-term corporate resilience,” Swan Bitcoin CIO says

article-image

Cybersecurity experts explain how the attack could have been prevented