Topic: Can anyone make sure the ALS foundation gets their Bitcoins? (Read 247 times)

I'm going to see if I can reach out to the Trustees individually, maybe that'll have better luck.

In his memory and in support for finding a cure, Erik Voorhees Co-Founder of Coinapult, Jason King of Sean’s Outpost, Roger Ver, BitPay and the Bitcoin Foundation have collaborated to provide a way to donate Bitcoin to ALS research.

Any update on this?

That would be an awesome thing to do.  Surely somebody has that wallet.

See, that's the thing.  If I could help them, I'd certainly have got in touch with them directly.  The only person who can help them is someone who knows how they can get their hands on that key.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Hello, my name is Ben and I’m contacting you today to make sure you are aware of a fund of Bitcoin that was established in 2014 in the memory of Hal Finney, who was a Bitcoin pioneer.  See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Finney_(computer_scientist)

In 2014 a fund was established in his honor with contributions to be made to your organization.  However, someone noticed on Bitcoin’s ledger that there was a balance of over 14 Bitcoin in the fund (each Bitcoin currently has a US Dollar value of around $7000).  Bitcoin are worth more today than they were in 2014.  Here’s information on that fund: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/join-teamhal-give100-wbitcoin-to-the-hal-finney-bitcoin-fund-for-als-research/

And here’s the balance in the Bitcoin address that was established for that fund: https://blockchain.info/address/1JsnZLEGgLJY7rbDdaKTzC2JyvfaKUpF5p

So I was writing to make sure your organization is aware of the fund and knows how to access those Bitcoin so you could convert them into US Dollars or other funds that you could use to advance your work.

I had no connection to the creation of this fund, but I’m working on figuring out who was involved.  But on your end, maybe someone made you aware of a Bitcoin address and/or a private key?  If you locate the private key (which will be a long series of numbers and letters), secure that and DO NOT TELL ME OR ANYONE ELSE THAT KEY.  It can be thought of as the “combination” that “unlocks” those Bitcoins.

If you do not have the private key, I am going to see if I can find out who does.  If you do have the private key, let me know that you do and I’ll put you in contact with a business that can help you convert those Bitcoin into dollars.

Thanks and have a good day.

Best regards,
Ben

I'm not on here much any more, but I went to make a donation to the ALS foundation in memory of Hal the other day and noted that the donation address that got set up back in 2014 has 14 BTC in it which nobody ever spent, and the wallet hasn't been touched in years.

https://blockchain.info/address/1JsnZLEGgLJY7rbDdaKTzC2JyvfaKUpF5p

Granted, that was supposed to run until a closing date, and those donations came in after that date, but the wallet that could spend them wouldn't have dropped the key.  Or at least it shouldn't have.

I'm hoping someone at the ALS foundation still has the key?  Or someone who managed the whole thing for them still does?  It would be a real shame, IMO, if that much in donations just got left twisting in the wind.