Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder, published his whitepaper on Oct. 31, 2008, and subsequently launched the Bitcoin network on Jan. 3, 2009. He was soon joined by five other contributors, notably, Hal Finney, a developer and cypherpunk who became the first bitcoin transaction recipient (courtesy of Satoshi), and Laszlo Hanyec, a programmer who famously paid 10,000 BTC (almost $170 million today) for two pizzas.
