The Human Rights Basis, in collaboration with the Finney household, has awarded Pieter Wuille and Gregory Maxwell the distinguished Finney Freedom Prize for his or her groundbreaking contributions to Bitcoin usability, scalability, and privateness. The prize recognises their work through the 2012-2016 period, equivalent to Bitcoin’s block peak of 210,000 to 420,000.
The Finney Freedom Prize honours people who advance the pc as a instrument for shielding particular person freedoms worldwide, following within the footsteps of Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney, who was the primary recipient of the award.
An unbiased committee chosen Wuille and Maxwell from a shortlist that included notable bitcoin contributors resembling Andreas Antonopoulos, Roya Mahboob, and Ross Ulbricht.
As open-source software program, Bitcoin depends on voluntary contributors to keep up, overview, and enhance its codebase. Not like a standard firm, bitcoin has no central authority, making the work of builders like Wuille and Maxwell vital to its continued success. Each have performed pivotal roles in guaranteeing bitcoin stays sturdy, safe, and a sensible instrument for monetary freedom.
“Wuille and Maxwell’s efforts have demonstrably made bitcoin a sensible human rights instrument for thousands and thousands of individuals, particularly so many who labor beneath authoritarian regimes and monetary repression throughout the globe,” the Finney Freedom Prize announcement acknowledged.
Their contributions have helped bitcoin develop into a robust monetary useful resource for people worldwide, significantly these in repressive environments.
The laureates will break up a financial prize of 100,000,000 satoshis (1 bitcoin), and every will obtain a Finney Freedom Prize statue designed by Cryptograffiti.
The following Finney Freedom Laureate, masking the 2016-2020 period (Block Peak 420,000 to 630,000), will likely be introduced on January 10, 2026.
