[11][12] Finney wrote on the Cypherpunks Mailing List in 1992,[13] It seemed so obvious to me: "Here we are faced with the problems of loss of privacy, creeping computerization, massive databases, more centralization - and [David] Chaum offers a completely different direction to go in, one which puts power into the hands of individuals rather than governments and corporations.

He lived in the same town as Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto (Temple City, California) for 10 years, adding to speculation that he may have been Bitcoin's creator.

He recalled finding out that Bitcoin had gained monetary value in late 2010 and mentioned that despite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) slowing his ability to code, he still loved programming and the goals it provided.

He continued to program until his death; he was working on experimental software called bcflick, which uses Trusted Computing to strengthen Bitcoin wallets.

[13] In October 2009, Finney announced in an essay on the blog Less Wrong that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in August 2009, and wrote: "I hope to be able to read, browse the net, and even participate in conversations by email and messaging (...) I may even still be able to write code, and my dream is to contribute to open source software projects even from within an immobile body.

[18][19][20] Finney died in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 28, 2014, as a result of complications of ALS and was cryopreserved by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.