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Severian (OP)
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August 30, 2012, 04:30:05 AM |
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There's a free bitcoin out there, give or take a few satoshis, if you can figure out how to find it. Everything needed to find it is right here, in this message. Anything you don't need isn't here. It could be this. Or this. Or not.
I'd love for someone to find this lonely bitcoin, adrift in a sea of 2^160 mostly empty addresses. Though the puzzle appears obscure, the solution's not hard to find if you put your mind to it. It merely takes a little thought, in or out of the box, and maybe some self-education in how bitcoin operates. I continue to learn about this protocol and am amazed at the ingenuity, brains, talent and skill of the developers.
My reason for doing this is simple: I'm new on this board, though not to bitcoin, and trust and goodwill matter here. This seemed like a better way of saying hello rather than just leave a post on the "Introduce yourself" thread as I did when I first got here.
Again, the clue(s) needed to find the bitcoin are all in this message. The answer is easier than it looks.
Bona fortuna!
edit: If you do find it, leave a message here? Thanks.
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Domrada
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August 30, 2012, 05:04:39 AM |
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There's a free bitcoin out there, give or take a few satoshis, if you can figure out how to find it. Everything needed to find it is right here, in this message. Anything you don't need isn't here. It could be this. Or this. Or not.
I'd love for someone to find this lonely bitcoin, adrift in a sea of 2^160 mostly empty addresses. Though the puzzle appears obscure, the solution's not hard to find if you put your mind to it. It merely takes a little thought, in or out of the box, and maybe some self-education in how bitcoin operates. I continue to learn about this protocol and am amazed at the ingenuity, brains, talent and skill of the developers.
My reason for doing this is simple: I'm new on this board, though not to bitcoin, and trust and goodwill matter here. This seemed like a better way of saying hello rather than just leave a post on the "Introduce yourself" thread as I did when I first got here.
Again, the clue(s) needed to find the bitcoin are all in this message. The answer is easier than it looks.
Bona fortuna!
edit: If you do find it, leave a message here? Thanks.
WOOT! Awesome puzzle!! Genius idea.  |
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Domrada
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August 30, 2012, 05:12:23 AM |
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Other answers that could have worked:
right here, in this message.
easier than it looks.
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Severian (OP)
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August 30, 2012, 05:15:32 AM |
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Other answers that could have worked:
right here, in this message.
easier than it looks.
Nice! I'll make it harder next time. Glad you like the idea. |
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casascius
Mike Caldwell
VIP
Legendary
 Offline
Activity: 1386
Merit: 1140
The Casascius 1oz 10BTC Silver Round (w/ Gold B)
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August 30, 2012, 05:19:52 AM |
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This looks a whole lot like this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28877.0Mine had to be made easier, since at the time, few had considered the idea of using hashed strings as private keys, and few knew how to import private keys (the tools were obscure). |
Companies claiming they got hacked and lost your coins sounds like fraud so perfect it could be called fashionable. I never believe them. If I ever experience the misfortune of a real intrusion, I declare I have been honest about the way I have managed the keys in Casascius Coins. I maintain no ability to recover or reproduce the keys, not even under limitless duress or total intrusion. Remember that trusting strangers with your coins without any recourse is, as a matter of principle, not a best practice. Don't keep coins online. Use paper or hardware wallets instead.
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scintill
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August 30, 2012, 05:24:00 AM |
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There's a free bitcoin out there, give or take a few satoshis, if you can figure out how to find it. Everything needed to find it is right here, in this message. Anything you don't need isn't here. It could be this. Or this. Or not.
I'd love for someone to find this lonely bitcoin, adrift in a sea of 2^160 mostly empty addresses. Though the puzzle appears obscure, the solution's not hard to find if you put your mind to it. It merely takes a little thought, in or out of the box, and maybe some self-education in how bitcoin operates. I continue to learn about this protocol and am amazed at the ingenuity, brains, talent and skill of the developers.
My reason for doing this is simple: I'm new on this board, though not to bitcoin, and trust and goodwill matter here. This seemed like a better way of saying hello rather than just leave a post on the "Introduce yourself" thread as I did when I first got here.
Again, the clue(s) needed to find the bitcoin are all in this message. The answer is easier than it looks.
Bona fortuna!
edit: If you do find it, leave a message here? Thanks.
WOOT! Awesome puzzle!! Genius idea. Man, including that ending period in the string is pretty tricky.  Good job Domrada. |
1SCiN5kqkAbxxwesKMsH9GvyWnWP5YK2W | donations
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Severian (OP)
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August 30, 2012, 05:30:25 AM |
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This looks a whole lot like this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28877.0Mine had to be made easier, since at the time, few had considered the idea of using hashed strings as private keys, and few knew how to import private keys (the tools were obscure). I was literally just looking at your coins on the net earlier tonight and BOOM! there you are. Lovely work, sir. I'll most likely be getting a silver round down the road. I thought of this as a way to teach my kids about bitcoin and wanted to test it out. I'm not at all surprised that someone with more on the ball thought of it first. : ) |
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casascius
Mike Caldwell
VIP
Legendary
Offline
Activity: 1386
Merit: 1140
The Casascius 1oz 10BTC Silver Round (w/ Gold B)
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August 30, 2012, 05:33:09 AM |
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I thought of this as a way to teach my kids about bitcoin and wanted to test it out.
Glad to see - the more people understanding that Bitcoins are secured by a private key - which can be any piece of information - the better the world will understand Bitcoin. |
Companies claiming they got hacked and lost your coins sounds like fraud so perfect it could be called fashionable. I never believe them. If I ever experience the misfortune of a real intrusion, I declare I have been honest about the way I have managed the keys in Casascius Coins. I maintain no ability to recover or reproduce the keys, not even under limitless duress or total intrusion. Remember that trusting strangers with your coins without any recourse is, as a matter of principle, not a best practice. Don't keep coins online. Use paper or hardware wallets instead.
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Domrada
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August 30, 2012, 05:38:17 AM |
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A brute force attack on keys like this would be computationally intensive. Getting the bitcoin address from the private key requires a slow EC point multiplication. It would run as slowly as a vanity bitcoin address search, and would be difficult to port to a GPU due to recursion.
I could see a future bitcoin client allowing redemption of coins sitting on "passphrases", and the creation of those same passphrases, and suckers choosing poor passphrases as places to put their coins.
Your prediction was indeed prescient, Mike. |
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Severian (OP)
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August 30, 2012, 05:39:09 AM |
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Glad to see - the more people understanding that Bitcoins are secured by a private key - which can be any piece of information - the better the world will understand Bitcoin.
Being the only one with a key to a lock is an easy concept for kids to grasp, as is "this is mine, that's yours". Adults appear to have a harder time with the concepts. I've only explained the idea of bitcoin to them so far and they got it instantly. |
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Domrada
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August 30, 2012, 06:04:15 AM |
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Glad to see - the more people understanding that Bitcoins are secured by a private key - which can be any piece of information - the better the world will understand Bitcoin.
Being the only one with a key to a lock is an easy concept for kids to grasp, as is "this is mine, that's yours". Adults appear to have a harder time with the concepts. I've only explained the idea of bitcoin to them so far and they got it instantly. The whole brain wallet concept intreagues me. A person could conceivably store their entire fortune in a single address, and reveal a portion of the key phrase to each of several trusted loved ones, with the final portion revealed in their Will. Good premise for a novel. |
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