About the Hal Finney ALS/MND Research Fund
The ALS Network created the Hal Finney ALS/MND Research fund in 2024. Named in honor of Hal Finney, civil liberties advocate, software developer, and one of the earliest developers of Bitcoin, the fund will advance groundbreaking research related to ALS and other motor neuron diseases.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is the fund’s inaugural underwriter. Championing human rights across the globe, HRF awarded Hal posthumously with the inaugural Finney Freedom Prize, and the Finney family chose the ALS Network as the first recipient of the prize funds. Created in early 2024 to honor Hal for his lifelong dedication to digital liberty, the award recognizes individuals or institutions that strive to help make Bitcoin a better tool for freedom.
“I am very excited to witness the formation of the ALS Network’s Hal Finney ALS/MND Research Fund with support from the HRF’s Finney Freedom Prize,” said Fran Finney, widow of Hal Finney and ALS advocate. “As a repository for donations made in my husband Hal’s memory, the fund will be fully dedicated to finding a cure for ALS/MND, a devastating cluster of diseases that tragically shorten the lives of so many people. I sincerely thank the ALS Network for creating this fund, and for enabling me to serve as a key contributor in the process of deciding which research projects to support.”
Hal Finney was diagnosed with ALS in 2009. Fran, a licensed physical therapist, was his primary caregiver until his death in 2014 and served as a care manager for the ALS Network for many years. She now serves as Honorary Chair for the ALS Network’s Running Bitcoin Challenge, an event she championed with other fitness and Bitcoin enthusiasts, to raise awareness and funds to help find treatments and cures for ALS.
“Fran’s dedication to the ALS community is passion personified,” said Asher Garfinkel, ALS Network VP of Community Outreach. “The ALS Network was the first ALS nonprofit organization to accept Bitcoin donations to help fund its mission, so this fund and Fran’s continued involvement through the Running Bitcoin Challenge are a fitting tribute to Hal’s memory and the urgent work to end ALS.”
No less than 80% of all funds donated to the Running Bitcoin Challenge will help power the Hal Finney ALS/MND Research Fund. The fund will advance groundbreaking global research related to ALS and other motor neuron diseases.