Phil Zimmermann

Keyword reference — entries that mention this term in body prose.

4 entries reference this keyword in body prose.

Event August 28, 2014 Added February 22, 2026 Updated November 9, 2026 Biography

Hal Finney (1956–2014) — Cypherpunk, PGP developer, first Bitcoin recipient

The Santa Barbara Independent ↔ Hal Finney

Harold Thomas Finney II (1956–2014): Caltech engineer, PGP 2.0 developer, Extropian, cryonics advocate, RPOW creator, first Bitcoin recipient and first known person other than Satoshi to run Bitcoin.

Event August 28, 2014 Added February 8, 2026 Updated September 27, 2026 Article

Hal Finney (1956–2014) passes away — first Bitcoin recipient cryopreserved at Alcor

Hal Finney ↔ Fran Finney

Hal Finney, the first known person besides Satoshi to run Bitcoin and the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction, passes away from ALS at the age of 58.

Event July 3, 2011 Added April 29, 2026 Updated November 9, 2026 Biography

Len Sassaman (1980–2011) — Cypherpunk cryptographer, Mixmaster developer

Len Sassaman

American cryptographer (1980-2011), Mixmaster lead developer, KU Leuven PhD candidate. Died by suicide 68 days after Satoshi's last message. Later named in a Satoshi-identity hypothesis.

Event December 30, 1996 Added October 3, 2026 Updated October 3, 2026 Article

When code was a munition — PGP, a floppy disk and a hash function against U.S. export rules (1991–2000)

Bitcoin Institute ↔ Phil Zimmermann, Phil Karn, Daniel J. Bernstein, Adam Back, Don Henson

Until December 30, 1996, U.S. rules listed encryption software with weapons. Zimmermann was investigated, Karn sued over a floppy disk, Bernstein won in court, and Back put RSA on a T-shirt.