I meant stolen computing resources. By the owner of 3Emiwzxme7Mrj4d89uqohXNncnRM15YESs. It's not a business...

It makes you wonder what kind of person would leave it unspent for more than a year... My guess? Either someone who doesn’t need money, because anyone who’s ever wanted to buy a car or whatever, would have spent at least some of it right away. Or someone scared as s**t, since they've used stolen resources. In that case, they might think they’re being watched — and... they’re probably not wrong. Bitcoin is not untraceable since txns are on a public ledger. Even the best get trapped once they start spending...

So it's more likely this isn’t someone honest who spent all his f*****g savings to rent GPUs and prayed every night... This is someone who knows he’ll be in deep trouble the moment he starts cashing out.

Anyone knows if pubKeys of range 2^120 -2^121 have been saved somewhere? Even for lower ranges like 2^118-2^119 if available. I understand there might be Kangaroo work files already saved in this range? We are trialling something at the college and I remember reading about this but can't find the post anymore. Reward is possible for verified files.

Interesting...seeking legal advice and avoiding exchanges... However, how does one convert the coins from these puzzles into spendable cash without an exchange? And it’s somewhat disappointing not being able to spend it all at once if one wishes to, minus taxes and so forth. I haven’t found any legal provision that clarifies the management of bitcoins you ‘find’, or earn from solving a puzzle, or inherit... especially if you aren’t one of the big whales, who I suspect have their systems in place already )

No. This may be true for keeping the coins for your grandkids. But people usually want to use them to buy real stuff, like houses or cars. Saying “my keys, my coins” when someone asks where your $2 million is from? That just sounds silly.

Also, this idea that having a key means ownership has its limits. If I steal someone's key, does that make it legally mine? Definitely not. This argument doesn’t hold up in the real world; it only proves a cryptographic relationship and virtual proof of access.

I may be lacking some understanding on this matter—can anyone clarify? Let's hypothetically say someone has the ‘luck’ or the means to resolve these puzzles and acquire the BTC. Is this presumed to be legal, and if so, to what extent? Suppose the fortunate individual or team decides to convert it to fiat. How feasible is this, practically speaking? Is selling the BTC to platforms like Coinbase and then transferring to your bank a viable option? I don't think we can realistically expect that BOA, Wells Fargo, etc will overlook a client suddenly receiving hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of dollars... And there’s the potential of platforms like Coinbase restricting high-value transfers. This might work for smaller amounts, but some of these addresses are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

Returning to the legal bit, how does one justify these funds? Informing the IRS that it was a giveaway from a random forum user is bound to raise eyebrows, right?

I'm not intending to discourage anyone; I'm genuinely curious about how such a substantial BTC to fiat exchange would occur without legal repercussions...

"The people of Israel are evil [...] finish them off now" - This is how this thread begins.

The problem here is not the title of the thread. Rather it is the difference between a State and its citizens. This discussion starts by asking to "finish off" the people of a certain country. It doesn't even matter what country. What matters is the clear instigation to violence which goes against forum rules even if we employ a more liberal interpretation.

Rule #8: No threats to inflict bodily harm, death threats.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0

I have the greatest respect for the people in charge of this forum. I hope they will see how this thread is breaking quite a few rules as established here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0

Any cordial, political discussion should always be welcomed. But to call for a nation to be 'finished off' on a public forum is something else.

 

A lot has been said so far but here's my two cents on what you could try.


1. Try to access any of his other passwords. Laptop, PC, paper trail. Try to find physical evidence. See if the same passwords were used on multiple platforms.

2. Is there anyone closer to him than you? Can you ask them if the password was shared? What was their fav thing? Any children? DOB's? Loved places...

3. Forget about brute forcing unless you are convinced that the password is only a few chars long.

4. Don't trust people offering you any recovery service. Unless they are group of verifiable scientists - there might be a few willing to try and help.

5. Learn if the wallet has actually anything of value in it. Check bank statements for deposits to exchanges. He might have bought some coins and transferred them for safe keeping. If you can access an exchange on his behalf you can find the receiving/withdraw  address and check if it has any unspent funds.


Good luck!

BP