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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: starsoccer9 on November 04, 2013, 10:56:17 PM



Title: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 04, 2013, 10:56:17 PM
Just curious what you would do if this happened to you.

And no this did not happen to me yet ;)


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drpepperyummy on November 04, 2013, 10:57:41 PM
lets see who is honest with themselves


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Kazimir on November 04, 2013, 11:06:47 PM
Transfer the coins to a different address with a public message, telling the owner to contact me. If (s)he can prove ownership of the private key (by signing a message) I will return the coins minus a small finder's fee :)


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: IsaacGoldbourne on November 04, 2013, 11:15:40 PM
I would take a couple, too hard to contact them so that would ensure they generate a new address.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 04, 2013, 11:17:10 PM
Transfer the coins to a different address with a public message, telling the owner to contact me. If (s)he can prove ownership of the private key (by signing a message) I will return the coins minus a small finder's fee :)

Added your option


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 04, 2013, 11:18:46 PM
I would probably send a small amount from the address to a donation address.
Only if I'm convinced that the address is abondened (especially old 50 BTCs addresses and no reaction), I would take it.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: goxed on November 04, 2013, 11:30:31 PM
what's the probability of an address collision?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: porcupine87 on November 04, 2013, 11:34:24 PM
what's the probability of an address collision?

about 0.23%


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: vpitcher07 on November 04, 2013, 11:35:16 PM
what's the probability of an address collision?

Like pretty much impossible. I believe you would need some absolutely insane luck for that to happen.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 04, 2013, 11:35:43 PM
what's the probability of an address collision?

about 0.23%
After using all computers on earth for 10000 years?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: vpitcher07 on November 04, 2013, 11:42:50 PM
what's the probability of an address collision?

about 0.23%
After using all computers on earth for 10000 years?

Probably more like 10 million years no?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: MakeBelieve on November 04, 2013, 11:44:29 PM
That's a small chance. But,, it can still happen..which kind of scares me.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 04, 2013, 11:48:05 PM
Transfer the coins to a different address with a public message, telling the owner to contact me. If (s)he can prove ownership of the private key (by signing a message) I will return the coins minus a small finder's fee :)

Well your option seems to be quite popular. Tho most people seem are just gonna take it and run


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 04, 2013, 11:50:46 PM
Transfer the coins to a different address with a public message, telling the owner to contact me. If (s)he can prove ownership of the private key (by signing a message) I will return the coins minus a small finder's fee :)

Well your option seems to be quite popular. Tho most people seem are just gonna take it and run
Also voted for that one, although it's not exactly what I would do, it's the closest one.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: tearfereon on November 04, 2013, 11:55:38 PM
I already thought about it a while back ago. Woudnt the top address owners with 50.000+ BTC in one address deserve to loose it because of this? I answered yes, because I dont putting all my BTC to one address myselves


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 04, 2013, 11:59:36 PM
I already thought about it a while back ago. Woudnt the top address owners with 50.000+ BTC in one address deserve to loose it because of this? I answered yes, because I dont putting all my BTC to one address myselves
*one internetslap in your face*
You deserved that one.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Kazimir on November 05, 2013, 12:01:13 AM
That's a small chance. But,, it can still happen..which kind of scares me.
If you're scared of this, then you sure as hell should stop using banks and credit cards.

Because the chance of someone guessing your credit card details, AND your online banking credentials (AND winning the Powerball twice in a row) is still much, MUCH larger than someone accidentally generating your bitcoin address.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 05, 2013, 12:02:18 AM
That's a small chance. But,, it can still happen..which kind of scares me.
If you're scared of this, then you sure as hell should stop using banks and credit cards.

Because the chance of someone guessing your credit card details, AND your online banking credentials (AND winning the Powerball twice in a row) is still much, MUCH larger than someone accidentally generating your bitcoin address.
The chance of an asteroid destroying earth or a nuclear war is way higher.
Or getting struck by a lightning...twice in a row.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Remember remember the 5th of November on November 05, 2013, 12:03:45 AM
That's a small chance. But,, it can still happen..which kind of scares me.
If you're scared of this, then you sure as hell should stop using banks and credit cards.

Because the chance of someone guessing your credit card details, AND your online banking credentials (AND winning the Powerball twice in a row) is still much, MUCH larger than someone accidentally generating your bitcoin address.
The chance of an asteroid destroying earth or a nuclear war is way higher.
Or getting struck by a lightning...twice in a row.
Those are easy. Think of something unlikelier that is likelier than a collision.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 05, 2013, 12:04:05 AM
Transfer the coins to a different address with a public message, telling the owner to contact me. If (s)he can prove ownership of the private key (by signing a message) I will return the coins minus a small finder's fee :)

Well your option seems to be quite popular. Tho most people seem are just gonna take it and run
Also voted for that one, although it's not exactly what I would do, it's the closest one.

feel free to tell me what you would do and I can add it to the options


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: cassimares on November 05, 2013, 12:05:46 AM
After reading this topic, I am going to generate 1million address a day... :)


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Phinnaeus Gage on November 05, 2013, 12:07:00 AM
100 BTC X $230 = $23,000

I could buy 20 of these and profit a quarter million dollars.

http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/wp-content/gallery/old-barn/barn7.jpg


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 05, 2013, 12:08:47 AM
After reading this topic, I am going to generate 1million address a day... :)

lol, I was thinking about making software to to do this. Generate address and see if one address has any balance


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: matosha on November 05, 2013, 12:29:36 AM
Keep quiet till every bitcoin has been mined. Then BAM!!!! buy the world over


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: MysteryMiner on November 05, 2013, 01:36:02 AM
1st answer. And post it publicly about the insecurity if there is no other way for me to generate more such treasure filled addresses.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 01:41:57 AM
After reading this topic, I am going to generate 1million address a day... :)

lol, I was thinking about making software to to do this. Generate address and see if one address has any balance

I think you can use VanityGen to do this.

I know that VanityGen can generate 200,000,000 addresses a second on my computer, but it would be slower if you had to compare with your local blockchain for a balance every time. Also my computer is slow.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 05, 2013, 01:52:17 AM
After reading this topic, I am going to generate 1million address a day... :)

lol, I was thinking about making software to to do this. Generate address and see if one address has any balance

I think you can use VanityGen to do this.

I know that VanityGen can generate 200,000,000 addresses a second on my computer, but it would be slower if you had to compare with your local blockchain for a balance every time. Also my computer is slow.

wow thats alot. Yea I was considering for my program to just generate like 100 address then check all 100 address for a balance. Then add those address to a long running address list. which is checked every 5mins or something


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 02:18:02 AM
wow thats alot.

NOTE: My math may be wrong!

Well if my computer can check 200,000,000/Sec then thats 17 trillion addresses per day.

Lets see how close I can get to guessing a private key.

addresses per sec * seconds * minutes * hours * days in the year * age of Earth * some other number to get us close to guessing all possible combinations.

200000000*60*60*24*365*4500000000*10000000000000000000000 = 2.8 x 10^47 (close to how many possible combinations would have to be checked (I think))

So my computer would have to run constantly for the age of the Earth times 10 thousand billion billion (note that about 3 times is already older than the known universe)

So my computer would be running past the heat death of this universe and probably still would have not guessed a key with a balance.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: starsoccer9 on November 05, 2013, 02:50:41 AM
wow thats alot.

NOTE: My math may be wrong!

Well if my computer can check 200,000,000/Sec then thats 17 trillion addresses per day.

Lets see how close I can get to guessing a private key.

addresses per sec * seconds * minutes * hours * days in the year * age of Earth * some other number to get us close to guessing all possible combinations.

200000000*60*60*24*365*4500000000*10000000000000000000000 = 2.8 x 10^47 (close to how many possible combinations would have to be checked (I think))

So my computer would have to run constantly for the age of the Earth times 10 thousand billion billion (note that about 3 times is already older than the known universe)

So my computer would be running past the heat death of this universe and probably still would have not guessed a key with a balance.

hehe you proved a point.

I was just saying alot as my pc only generates like 50million a sec and thats with my 2 gpus and cpu cracking away


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: maursader on November 05, 2013, 02:55:01 AM
I voted, but this seems like one of those topics where the OP states something along the lines of, "Let's just say you won the powerball lottery, and took home over $120 million USD after tax, what would you do?" - The reality of this question is that the chances of this happening is so slim, especially on a wallet that contains 100 BTC, imo, it makes this thread pointless. Not sure what you're looking for OP, but if it ever happens, the person who lost the 100BTC probably deserved it. End of story.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: DobZombie on November 05, 2013, 03:44:14 AM
If that happened it would prove that fate exists and the universe would want me to have the 100btc

:)


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: exstasie on November 05, 2013, 03:56:23 AM
I'd do the exact same thing if I were to find 100BTCs walking down the street...

Look to my left, then to my right, then pick up it and RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Shallow on November 05, 2013, 04:47:12 AM
Pretty sure most would take it and thanks their lucky stars


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Abdussamad on November 05, 2013, 05:01:11 AM
Reminds me of what happened to butter zone. Someone sent him a lot of BTC and he tried to contact that person for months:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=133122.0

They even wrote a white paper on it.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 06:25:08 AM
After reading this topic, I am going to generate 1million address a day... :)

lol, I was thinking about making software to to do this. Generate address and see if one address has any balance

This has already been done.  Read this thread:  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=107172.0

You can download the program and start searching.

You will never find one but if attempting impossible things is something you like to do, have at it.

Incorrect!

It is certainly possible to run that program and guess a correct key to gain Bitcoins.

Its infeasible sure, the likelihood of this working approaches the impossible but never ever touches it.

Impossible is defined as never able to be done under any circumstance.

Just because the key space is large and searching it may take a trillion trillion years does not make the task impossible.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: foggyb on November 05, 2013, 06:37:36 AM
After reading this topic, I am going to generate 1million address a day... :)

lol, I was thinking about making software to to do this. Generate address and see if one address has any balance

This has already been done.  Read this thread:  

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=107172.0

You can download the program and start searching.

You will never find one but if attempting impossible things is something you like to do, have at it.

Incorrect!

It is certainly possible to run that program and guess a correct key to gain Bitcoins.

Its infeasible sure, the likelihood of this working approaches the impossible but never ever touches it.

Impossible is defined as never able to be done under any circumstance.

Just because the key space is large and searching it may take a trillion trillion years does not make the task impossible.

Also do not forget that even if you find a valid address, chances are much more than 99.99 % certain it is a wallet with no coins (generated by another vanitygen).

That's a small chance. But,, it can still happen..which kind of scares me.
If you're scared of this, then you sure as hell should stop using banks and credit cards.

Because the chance of someone guessing your credit card details, AND your online banking credentials (AND winning the Powerball twice in a row) is still much, MUCH larger than someone accidentally generating your bitcoin address.
The chance of an asteroid destroying earth or a nuclear war is way higher.
Or getting struck by a lightning...twice in a row.

There has been at least one person that got hit by lightning a half dozen times. The truth is the odds against address collision are so great we cannot comprehend the vastness. We don't have any way to grasp it.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 08:56:39 AM
Also do not forget that even if you find a valid address, chances are much more than 99.99 % certain it is a wallet with no coins (generated by another vanitygen).

You are always finding valid addresses with VanityGen, however if you set VanityGen to find a solution for a full length address you would obviously make sure that address you are bruteforcing held Bitcoins.

Its logical to brute force against the largest address because its illogical to search for any other address due to time and energy requirements.



Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Realpra on November 05, 2013, 09:26:02 AM
what's the probability of an address collision?

Like pretty much impossible. I believe you would need some absolutely insane luck for that to happen.
Which is why I would report it as a bug on the forums (bad random gen.).

Whether I would take the money or not also ;) I think I would not.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Mitchell on November 05, 2013, 09:32:28 AM
Well if someone has 50.000 bitcoins in one address, they deserve to be stolen. ::)
Anyway, I picked:
Quote
Transfer the coins to a different address with a public message, telling the owner to contact me. If (s)he can prove ownership of the private key I will return the coins minus a small finder's fee.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: porcupine87 on November 05, 2013, 11:24:47 AM
Is it not possible to password protect the private key for transfers? Or some other solution?

No! To have the private key of an address proves that you are the owner of this address.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: porcupine87 on November 05, 2013, 11:38:19 AM
wow thats alot.

NOTE: My math may be wrong!

Well if my computer can check 200,000,000/Sec then thats 17 trillion addresses per day.

Lets see how close I can get to guessing a private key.

addresses per sec * seconds * minutes * hours * days in the year * age of Earth * some other number to get us close to guessing all possible combinations.

200000000*60*60*24*365*4500000000*10000000000000000000000 = 2.8 x 10^47 (close to how many possible combinations would have to be checked (I think))

So my computer would have to run constantly for the age of the Earth times 10 thousand billion billion (note that about 3 times is already older than the known universe)

So my computer would be running past the heat death of this universe and probably still would have not guessed a key with a balance.

A few things:
- the hashrate will grow over time dramatically.
- you want to find a private key to any address, not to one, to get a collusion
- checking balance cost you time,too

So I will take these numbers:
- Every human has 10 000 addresses with balance on it. This makes with 10billionen people 100 trillion targets or 10^14
- the hashrate of the network is now at 4*10^15 hashes per second. But how will this change over the years? I don't know. We take 10^21 -> 1mio. times more than today.
- there is a total number of possible addresses of 10^77
- 60*60*24*365*4500000000 = 10^17

This makes 10^77 / 10^14 / 10^21 = 10^42 for one second. 10^25 times the existing of the earth.

-> This makes: If you have 1 000 000 times the hashrate of the whole network today, and every human has 10 000 addresses with positive balance you have to calculate many years.

But not secure enough? Then just transfer you wealth from one to another address every few minutes.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 12:07:36 PM
But not secure enough? Then just transfer you wealth from one to another address every few minutes.

Moving your wealth will not have an effect, in your example you are just as likely to transfer your money into an address controlled by someone else as someone else gaining control of your address.

The real solution to collisions (not that it is a real problem anyway) is to spread your wealth over as many Bitcoin addresses as possible. If it takes a trillion x trillion years to have a 50% chance of getting the correct key to an address with 50,000 Bitcoins in it, the attacker might not bother if the 50,000 Bitcoins were stored in 50,000 addresses of 1 Bitcoin denomination. This will mean the attacker will have to expend 50 x trillion x trillion years to get all those juicy Bitcoins.

- you want to find a private key to any address, not to one, to get a collusion
- checking balance cost you time,too

The checking of balances will cost time, and you might expend a trillion years to only find 0.004 Bitcoin. The best thing to do is choose a valuable target and focus every key attempt on that address.

If we now focus on the FBI address, the gain for all that hashing might be worth it (for an attacker capable of turning the entire energy of a star into pure computation.)

This way we do not have to check the balance every time and we can eek out more efficient computing.



Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 12:18:23 PM
- Every human has 10 000 addresses with balance on it. This makes with 10billionen people 100 trillion targets or 10^14

This is why you want to focus your search on an address you select as your target.

If Bitcoins were evenly distributed over 100 trillion addresses, there would be 0.00,000,021 (21 Satoshi) in every address. Running the generator randomly would certainly be a waste of time.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: DannyHamilton on November 05, 2013, 01:05:08 PM
That's a small chance. But,, it can still happen..which kind of scares me.
If you're scared of this, then you sure as hell should stop using banks and credit cards.

Because the chance of someone guessing your credit card details, AND your online banking credentials (AND winning the Powerball twice in a row) is still much, MUCH larger than someone accidentally generating your bitcoin address.
The chance of an asteroid destroying earth or a nuclear war is way higher.
Or getting struck by a lightning...twice in a row.
Those are easy. Think of something unlikelier that is likelier than a collision.

Ok, new data, will recalc everything:

  • probability of getting struck by lightning in any given year: 1/280000.
  • probability of taking a shit at any given point in time: 1/(60*24) = 1/1440 (assuming you take a crap every day and the actual process takes 1 minute)
  • probability of getting struck by lightning while taking a crap in any given year: 1/(280000*1440) = 1/1.47E11 = 2.48E-9
  • probability of taking a crap while being in a situation where being struck by lightning can actually occur = 1/1440 = 0.25 = 1.74E-4
  • probability of finding a collision: 1E-65
  • getting hit by lightning while taking a crap for how many years in a row is equally probable as finding a collision: log(1E-65) / log(1.74E-4) = 17.3

is my math roughly correct now?

If so, I can say: "Finding a collision is about as likely as being struck by lightning while taking a crap every year for 17 years in a row".


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Mitchell on November 05, 2013, 01:14:25 PM
Ok, new data, will recalc everything:

  • probability of getting struck by lightning in any given year: 1/280000.
  • probability of taking a shit at any given point in time: 1/(60*24) = 1/1440 (assuming you take a crap every day and the actual process takes 1 minute)
  • probability of getting struck by lightning while taking a crap in any given year: 1/(280000*1440) = 1/1.47E11 = 2.48E-9
  • probability of taking a crap while being in a situation where being struck by lightning can actually occur = 1/1440 = 0.25 = 1.74E-4
  • probability of finding a collision: 1E-65
  • getting hit by lightning while taking a crap for how many years in a row is equally probable as finding a collision: log(1E-65) / log(1.74E-4) = 17.3

is my math roughly correct now?

If so, I can say: "Finding a collision is about as likely as being struck by lightning while taking a crap every year for 17 years in a row".

I just spit Energy Drink all over my keyboard. Thanks dude. >:(


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: DannyHamilton on November 05, 2013, 01:20:37 PM
I just spit Energy Drink all over my keyboard. Thanks dude. >:(

Never put anything in your mouth while reading a forum.  The odds of humor popping up somewhere is just to high.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Karmicads on November 05, 2013, 01:48:43 PM
If that happened it would prove that fate exists and the universe would want me to have the 100btc

:)

So you got from a random coincidence, to a sentient universe, and then to a justification of your greed in just one step. WOW :wow: Amazing what folks can do when self-intrest is their only motive.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 02:04:48 PM
If that happened it would prove that fate exists and the universe would want me to have the 100btc

:)

So you got from a random coincidence, to a sentient universe, and then to a justification of your greed in just one step. WOW :wow: Amazing what folks can do when self-intrest is their only motive.

Yes well most people would rationalize their way to keeping the Bitcoins, making up excuses such as fate, no one used them, etc...

If I was going to keep the 100 BTC, then at least I would be honest about it! I am not interested into deluding myself into thinking that God gave me Bitcoins.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: debianlinux on November 05, 2013, 02:16:23 PM
The question is akin to this,

If you walked into a crowded parking deck and hit the unlock button on your key fob for your Honda Accord and the nearby Maserati lit up, the door swung open and a voice came over the parking deck speakers and said your name and welcomed you into the vehicle as if it were your own then when you sat down in the car the key also just happened to fit and start the engine... then would you take the car?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 02:23:03 PM
The question is akin to this,

If you walked into a crowded parking deck and hit the unlock button on your key fob for your Honda Accord and the nearby Maserati lit up, the door swung open and a voice came over the parking deck speakers and said your name and welcomed you into the vehicle as if it were your own then when you sat down in the car the key also just happened to fit and start the engine... then would you take the car?

The voice over the speaker system is giving the man the car, even if the voice is lying he might think its a publicity stunt and play along.

The OP's Bitcoin example involves the theft of Bitcoin without almost any repercussions. The question here boils down to an ethical one, without the chance of being caught do you steal a random's Bitcoins.

Many will steal them, and most of the people that will steal them have to rationalize the theft to themselves. ("No one should put so many coins in one address!", "God gave them to me", "Fate, nuff said", etc..)

However no rationalization is needed in your example because you are literally being given a car and the whole thing smells of a publicity stunt. In fact he probably expects himself to be apart of a show on TV and is probably researching hidden camera shows to see if any filmed in the local area.

I am tired and rambling, if I make no sense please disregard the above.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: roflmao129 on November 05, 2013, 02:51:04 PM
I would probably send it to my own adress.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: thatbluedude on November 05, 2013, 03:56:37 PM
I'd probably send 1.337 btc to 1watchthis123456789 just to see what happens


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Piper67 on November 05, 2013, 04:39:56 PM
I would assume I'm dead, since the odds against it are so insurmountable as to make it effectively impossible in this reality.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: msc on November 05, 2013, 04:52:28 PM
I wouldn't fault anyone for taking all the coins.  When you generate an address fairly, that address is yours.  If it also happens to be someone else's address, that's how the system works.  The odds of this happening are at least a billion times less than the odds of me dying in a car accident tomorrow, but mathematically, it's possible. 

I recommend dividing your wealth across at least 5 addresses.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: LiteCoinGuy on November 05, 2013, 04:59:40 PM
if i would know the owner i give it back and ask for a little bitcoin because i give it back :) . think thats fair for both.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: DannyHamilton on November 05, 2013, 05:12:50 PM
Is the ratio of criminals to noncriminals really that high? Or do the honest people just not bother answering this question?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: zuerdemon on November 05, 2013, 05:18:15 PM
Honest people would just remove the private key from their wallet  :P

Sending to different address and requesting part of the pie because some security is broken  ??? WTF excuse for a steal !


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: MysteryMiner on November 05, 2013, 05:24:30 PM
You got all the math wrong. If involved hash functions is flawed or the source of entropy is less than perfectly random then you must reduce the time needed by orders of magnitude. Still not feasible as far as I know it.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 05, 2013, 05:26:11 PM
Is the ratio of criminals to noncriminals really that high? Or do the honest people just not bother answering this question?

The only honest option is so boring in this vote.
If this untra-unlikely event happens, you want at least prove that it did happen.
(Also it could be some serious bug in a random generator)

But I hope that the percentage of people that would just take the coins isn't that high in reality :/

And wtf is this option "Take the coins hostage and demand a ransom payment for the coins back", it doesn't make sense at all.
Give me money, or I won't give you the money back!?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: TippingPoint on November 05, 2013, 05:30:39 PM
If they belonged to a poor person I would definitely give them back.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 05, 2013, 05:32:17 PM
If they belonged to a poor person I would definitely give them back.


How are you able to check that?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: debianlinux on November 05, 2013, 05:32:49 PM
The question is akin to this,

If you walked into a crowded parking deck and hit the unlock button on your key fob for your Honda Accord and the nearby Maserati lit up, the door swung open and a voice came over the parking deck speakers and said your name and welcomed you into the vehicle as if it were your own then when you sat down in the car the key also just happened to fit and start the engine... then would you take the car?

The voice over the speaker system is giving the man the car, even if the voice is lying he might think its a publicity stunt and play along.

The OP's Bitcoin example involves the theft of Bitcoin without almost any repercussions. The question here boils down to an ethical one, without the chance of being caught do you steal a random's Bitcoins.

Many will steal them, and most of the people that will steal them have to rationalize the theft to themselves. ("No one should put so many coins in one address!", "God gave them to me", "Fate, nuff said", etc..)

However no rationalization is needed in your example because you are literally being given a car and the whole thing smells of a publicity stunt. In fact he probably expects himself to be apart of a show on TV and is probably researching hidden camera shows to see if any filmed in the local area.

I am tired and rambling, if I make no sense please disregard the above.

Yeah, you missed the point, entirely. The described circumstances are not supposed to be rationalized into some episode of Punk'd or anything. I'm talking about honest to goodness magical voices from heaven that possess the speaker system that is really just part of the fire alarm and doesn't have a microphone on it anywhere. I'm talking about the real odds that a Honda Accord key will fit and activate a Maserati ignition with no Ashton Kutchers hiding behind the bushes. That you will generate an address containing 100 BTC is just as likely.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: zubelutte on November 05, 2013, 05:35:17 PM
Might look like signup bonus for starting using Bitcoin client to newcommer.

Fortunatelly we are speculating about hypothetic scenario


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Ecurb123 on November 05, 2013, 06:11:06 PM
I voted that I would delete the address and move on. Because as I understand it, this could only happen if I were to somehow get randomly generated the same address as someone else already had, am I wrong with that? And anyway if that happened I think it would be find to just delete the address, no harm done right?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Birdy on November 05, 2013, 06:13:59 PM
I voted that I would delete the address and move on. Because as I understand it, this could only happen if I were to somehow get randomly generated the same address as someone else already had, am I wrong with that? And anyway if that happened I think it would be find to just delete the address, no harm done right?

Yes, at least if you have no malware on your computer grabbing that address.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: aynstein on November 05, 2013, 06:24:20 PM
you forgot the cult option, immediately donate to the scientologists (sp?) under the stipulation the money is not used to buy couches that will be jumped on...


Lame?

Ok, I admit it, weak joke.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 06:34:33 PM
Yeah, you missed the point, entirely. The described circumstances are not supposed to be rationalized into some episode of Punk'd or anything. I'm talking about honest to goodness magical voices from heaven that possess the speaker system that is really just part of the fire alarm and doesn't have a microphone on it anywhere. I'm talking about the real odds that a Honda Accord key will fit and activate a Maserati ignition with no Ashton Kutchers hiding behind the bushes. That you will generate an address containing 100 BTC is just as likely.

If a Maserati key system cannot physically accept a Honda Accord key then its more likely you will eventually generate a Bitcoin address containing 100 BTC. This is because that physical key has no ability to ever fit into a Maserati ignition assuming physical incompatibilities.

One of those things is impossible but the other is possible but highly unlikely.

I am not aware of any way a metal key can randomly morph into another physical shape with no help and assuming we don't jam it in there as hard as possible.

Of course if the keys are similar it may become possible that a manufacturing defect could randomly make a key that fit both ignitions. This all really depends upon how close these two chunks of metal are in their manufactured state.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: MysteryMiner on November 05, 2013, 06:40:23 PM


I am not aware of any way a metal key can randomly morph into another physical shape with no help and assuming we don't jam it in there as hard as possible.


Think about quantum mechanics. The same that cause atoms to randomly dislocate in CPU transistors. It is possible for Honda key to morph into Maserati key by the same principle. But it will take longer time than the age of universe to happen. And what if it morphs into dildo not Maserati key?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: rpg on November 05, 2013, 06:44:46 PM
nothing is impossible, but if it happens to me please make it the address where the FBI keeps the stack of SR bitcoins  ;D


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: drawingthesun on November 05, 2013, 07:09:43 PM
nothing is impossible, but if it happens to me please make it the address where the FBI keeps the stack of SR bitcoins  ;D

The SR coins? http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX (http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX)

Why aim for 30,000 when you have DPR's personal stash of 144,000! https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH (https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH)


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: teukon on November 05, 2013, 07:12:30 PM
So my computer would be running past the heat death of this universe and probably still would have not guessed a key with a balance.

It'll be a while before the universe achieves heat death (assuming things go that way).  One should be able to crack all the current addresses through brute force by calculating just one address per year with oodles of time to spare.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Ecurb123 on November 05, 2013, 07:15:48 PM
I'm sure it's been figured many times already, but what are the odds of this happening?


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: dserrano5 on November 05, 2013, 08:31:43 PM
Why aim for 30,000 when you have DPR's personal stash of 144,000! https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH

Ah yeah, if I found the privkey to an address with 100 coins I'd probably do the right think (kinda). However if I found the key to that address you can be pretty sure I'd transfer the whole one hundred forty four thousand to my wallet. As many of us would do, I guess.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Remember remember the 5th of November on November 05, 2013, 08:41:23 PM
Why aim for 30,000 when you have DPR's personal stash of 144,000! https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH

Ah yeah, if I found the privkey to an address with 100 coins I'd probably do the right think (kinda). However if I found the key to that address you can be pretty sure I'd transfer the whole one hundred forty four thousand to my wallet. As many of us would do, I guess.
Yes and no. If you do find an address collision that has 100btc in there, you would take them, because you know you will never find a collision ever again(talking pure bruteforce, no weak seeds).


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: Nikinger on November 05, 2013, 09:31:20 PM
If I manage to generate a Bitcoin address with already containing 100 BTC, I would suppose a broken RNG as the cause, and afterwards panic sweep all my funds off to the cold storage wallet. After emptying out the wallet from the affected wallet software, I would investigate the incident first before taking any actions.


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: westkybitcoins on November 05, 2013, 10:47:59 PM
There are a lot of thieves on this forum. Thats quite sad

This forum?

This is just human nature rearing it's ugly head. Given a chance to profit, an unidentifiable victim, a clean non-physical interaction, an amount that's not too big to hide or deal with, plenty of opportunities for rationalization, and a near-zero chance of being caught MOST people the world over would take the money. Sure, many people wouldn't even be tempted, and wouldn't think of taking the bitcoins. But those people are in a minority, and it's not a minority that's evenly distributed either (although I'd wager those people are OVER-represented somewhat among techies.)


Title: Re: What would you do if you generated a Bitcoin address which had 100btc in it.
Post by: rpg on November 06, 2013, 02:36:06 AM
nothing is impossible, but if it happens to me please make it the address where the FBI keeps the stack of SR bitcoins  ;D

The SR coins? http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX

Why aim for 30,000 when you have DPR's personal stash of 144,000! https://blockchain.info/address/1FfmbHfnpaZjKFvyi1okTjJJusN455paPH

well sir, thank you or your guidance   ;D