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Hal Finney explained ZK proofs 25 years ago

Twenty-five years ago, American software developer and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney spoke at a conference on zero-knowledge proofs (zk-proofs).

By Luc Vesters
• 2 min read
Hal Finney explained ZK proofs 25 years ago

Twenty-five years ago, American software developer and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney spoke at a conference on zero-knowledge proofs (zk-proofs). The images are from the 18th annual International Cryptology Conference in 1998.

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"I want to prove to you that I know of a message that uses the hash SHA-1 to determine a particular hash value. I don't want to tell you anything about the message. It is a knowledge-free proof."Hal Finney

In 1998, ZK proofs were considered inefficient or impractical because of "limited software and hardware," the speech said. In today's crypto industry, zero-knowledge proofs are used to protect privacy. Using ZK technology, transactions can be verified while leaving no details about the transaction on a blockchain except the date and time.

Who is behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto is still one of the biggest mysteries in the crypto industry. Finney is the subject of many rumors. After all, the software developer was significantly involved in the development of the peer-to-peer network and received the first transaction of 10 BTC at the time.

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