What if Hal Finney had never discovered bitcoin?

Imagine for a moment a world where Hal Finney, the renowned cryptographer and early advocate of digital currencies, had never stumbled upon the revolutionary concept of Bitcoin. Would the cryptocurrency landscape be as vibrant and diverse as it is today? Would the decentralized, secure, and transparent nature of blockchain technology have still captured the imagination of developers, investors, and enthusiasts worldwide? Without Hal's early involvement, perhaps the Bitcoin protocol would have taken a different path, lacking some of its core features and advantages. Would the network have grown as rapidly, attracting the same level of attention and capital? Or would other, perhaps less robust, digital currencies have emerged to fill the void? Hal's contributions, from being the first person to receive a bitcoin transaction to his insights and advocacy, undoubtedly shaped the trajectory of Bitcoin and the broader cryptosphere. His absence from this narrative begs the question: what if Bitcoin had never had its early champion? Would we still be witnessing the same level of innovation and disruption in the world of finance?