One of the Earliest Bitcoin Pioneers is Cryonically Freezing Himself For the Future


Hal Finney, renowned cryptographer, coder, and bitcoin pioneer, died on Thursday at the age of 58 after battling ALS for five years. However, his journey isn’t over- he is now freezing himself using advanced technology so that he can be revived and cured in the future.

Finney was one of the first programmers for bitcoin’s open source code- he received the first bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto. As a fan of futurist technology, Finney requested to be cryonically (not cryogenically, that’s a false movie fact) frozen after his death to be revived in the far future.

Shortly after he was declared legally dead, Finney’s body was flown to a cryonics facility owned by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over the course of a few days, Finney’s blood and other fluids will be removed from his body and replaced with a mix of several chemicals Alcor calls M-22 that are designed to preserve his tissues while preventing the formation of ice crystals that would destroy his cell membranes.

His body temperature will slowly be lowered to -320 degrees Fahrenheit and stored in an aluminum pod inside a 10-foot tall tank filled with 450 liters of liquid nitrogen meant to keep him in a state of suspended animation.

Max More, Alcor’s director and Finney’s long-time friend explains:

“That’s where he’ll remain until such time as we have technologies to repair the problems he had such as ALS and the aging process… And then we can bring Hal back happy and whole again.”

Finney’s wife, Fran, has also chosen to be cryonically frozen upon her death.

No human to date has ever been brought back from cryonic freezing before, successful or otherwise, and the topic in general has remained mostly within science fiction.

It sure is a far-fetched plan to see the future, though it is pretty cool. Would you ever consider freezing yourself for the possibility to be revived in the future?

Source: Wired


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