Bitcoin puzzle transaction ~32 BTC prize to who solves it

[nomachine]

win bins?

i compiled it but got funny fonts...

Fixed… Simple Code Change (Replaced ∞ with N/A)
No UTF-8 Issues: Works on every terminal, no fancy encoding needed.
Clear Meaning: "N/A" is universal—everyone gets "Not Applicable."
Zero Configuration: Runs everywhere, no fuss:

Windows
Linux/macOS terminals
Remote SSH sessions
Log files and whatever else you throw at it...

Sometimes, the dumbest solution is the best.
Optimization is good—until it adds more problems than it solves.
Premature optimization? Wasted time.

"N/A" beats fighting with ∞ any day.
The End.

[AlanJohnson]

Optimized version is there. Good luck.

https://github.com/NoMachine1/Cyclone

 

Hi, I think I found a small bug:

Code:

./Cyclone -h 95a156cd21b4a69de969eb6716864f4c8b82a82a -p 40 -t 4 -b 5

================= WORK IN PROGRESS =================
Puzzle/Bits   : 40
Target Hash160: 95a156cd21b4a69de969eb6716864f4c8b82a82a
Prefix length : 5 bytes
Mode          : Sequential
CPU Threads   : 4
Mkeys/s       : 23.31
Total Checked : 166785826816
Elapsed Time  : 01:59:15
Range         : 8000000000:ffffffffff
Progress      : 30.338165 %
Progress Save : 11
Stride        : 1
================== FOUND MATCH! ====================
Private Key   : 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000E9AE4933D7
Public Key    : 027F9692C97565C48481E19FB95933C3F023D91DEF62394A38FF6B1ACA6E499EB5
Total Checked : 166891761152
Elapsed Time  : 01:59:15
Speed         : 23.3083 Mkeys/s

This is puzzle #40; the Private Key is off by 1: E9AE4933D6

It's a great program, thanks for all your hard work, man.

It's not a bug.


"Partial Matches: If a partial match is found, the program will display:

    Private Key 🔑
    Public Key 🛁
    Found Hash160 🧨
    Target Hash160 🎯
    Matched Bytes 💥

Full Match: If a full match is found, the program will display: FULL MATCH! 🚨 PRIVATE KEY FOUND! ✅ Auto-saved to KEYFOUND.txt"

[Akito S. M. Hosana]

Sometimes, the dumbest solution is the best.
Optimization is good—until it adds more problems than it solves.
Premature optimization? Wasted time.

(You should’ve put this in your signature.)

I wasn’t happy with the simple approach. I thought:
"What if I scaled this across 100 AWS instances?"

So I built:

A Kubernetes cluster for orchestration
Redis for distributed job queueing
S3 for centralized logging
Lambda for failover handling

Now the system could process quadrillions of keys per second… but cost $10,000/month to run. 

P.S. Someone eventually found the key… using a 10-line Python script. 

[WanderingPhilospher]

It's not a bug.


"Partial Matches: If a partial match is found, the program will display:

    Private Key 🔑
    Public Key 🛁
    Found Hash160 🧨
    Target Hash160 🎯
    Matched Bytes 💥

Full Match: If a full match is found, the program will display: FULL MATCH! 🚨 PRIVATE KEY FOUND! ✅ Auto-saved to KEYFOUND.txt"

If the program is not writing the correct private key to file or screen, it is a bug. The private keys saved are off by 1, just as GoldTiger69 said.

Am I missing something?? I checked and I get the same result, the private key is off by 1. Not a huge bug, but still a bug.

[AlanJohnson]

It's not a bug.


"Partial Matches: If a partial match is found, the program will display:

    Private Key 🔑
    Public Key 🛁
    Found Hash160 🧨
    Target Hash160 🎯
    Matched Bytes 💥

Full Match: If a full match is found, the program will display: FULL MATCH! 🚨 PRIVATE KEY FOUND! ✅ Auto-saved to KEYFOUND.txt"

If the program is not writing the correct private key to file or screen, it is a bug. The private keys saved are off by 1, just as GoldTiger69 said.

Am I missing something?? I checked and I get the same result, the private key is off by 1. Not a huge bug, but still a bug.

Wasn't it the case called "partial match" ?

[nomachine]

This is puzzle #40; the Private Key is off by 1: E9AE4933D6

You're right.

It will be fixed soon.


Fixed:

# ./Cyclone -h 95a156cd21b4a69de969eb6716864f4c8b82a82a -r E9AE4913D7:E9AE4933D7 -t 12 -b 5


================== FOUND MATCH! ====================
Private Key   : 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000E9AE4933D6
Public Key    : 03A2EFA402FD5268400C77C20E574BA86409EDEDEE7C4020E4B9F0EDBEE53DE0D4
Total Checked : 12288
Elapsed Time  : 00:00:00
Speed         : 0.293515 Mkeys/s


# ./Cyclone -h bfebb73562d4541b32a02ba664d140b5a574792f -p 26 -b 8 -S -t 12

================== FOUND MATCH! ====================
Private Key   : 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000340326E
Public Key    : 024E4F50A2A3ECCDB368988AE37CD4B611697B26B29696E42E06D71368B4F3840F
Total Checked : 16718848
Elapsed Time  : 00:00:00
Speed         : 3.0181 Mkeys/s

[Akito S. M. Hosana]

Fixed:

There’s no end to this. I can’t keep up anymore. Don’t change anything else for now. It’s finally giving accurate results. Sorry for the trouble; it’s all my fault. 

[nomachine]

Fixed:

There’s no end to this. I can’t keep up anymore. Don’t change anything else for now. It’s finally giving accurate results. Sorry for the trouble; it’s all my fault.  

Don’t worry. One of my jobs was in tech support. Three shifts, 24/7, dealing with the same nonsense. After six years and exactly two days, my brain burned out. Since then, every other job has been honey and milk compared to working in that mine.  

Someone eventually found the key… using a 10-line Python script. 

Ain’t no way that 10-line Python script brute-forced a 68-bit puzzle. That’s like tryna crack a bank vault with a wet noodle. Either that script’s got cheat codes or somebody’s fibbin’ harder than a politician on election day.

[zahid888]

https://github.com/futuremoneybtc/PuzzleFinder

Fully enhanced with zero bugs.. benchmarks ??

[Ovixx]

https://github.com/futuremoneybtc/PuzzleFinder

Fully enhanced with zero bugs.. benchmarks ??

Thank you and I appreciate it!
but I get the following error:
https://imgur.com/a/rVnEXqC
.....and four more DLLs that I don't have. What are the necessary prerequisites?

[Akito S. M. Hosana]

https://github.com/futuremoneybtc/PuzzleFinder

Fully enhanced with zero bugs.. benchmarks ??

It doesn't work.

>.\PuzzleFinder.exe  -sbl 19 -ebl 20 -p 4 -t 1 -i .\addresses.txt
>

> .\PuzzleFinder.exe
All options -t, -i, -sbl, -ebl, and -p are required!
  -t   <threads>          : Number of CPU threads (1 to max available)
  -i   <input_file.txt>   : Path to file of Base58 Bitcoin addresses
  -sbl <start_bit_length> : Starting bit length (e.g., 67)
  -ebl <end_bit_length>   : Ending bit length (e.g., 160)
  -p   <prefix_length>    : Length of prefix to match (1-20)


>.\PuzzleFinder.exe  -sbl 40 -ebl 41 -p 4 -t 1 -i .\addresses.txt
>

I get a blank line after the command. No error, Windows 11.

[nomachine]

It doesn't work.

I get a blank line after the command. No error, Windows 11.

If the app was compiled with dynamic linking (using DLLs), the target PC might be missing required runtime libraries. (e.g., MSVCR140.dll for Visual Studio or libstdc++-6.dll for MinGW).

Check Dependencies (Run in Command Prompt):

Code:

dumpbin /dependents PuzzleFinder.exe 

If you see:

libgcc_s_seh-1.dll, libstdc++-6.dll, libwinpthread-1.dll → Static linking failed.
MSVCR140.dll, VCRUNTIME140.dll → Visual Studio runtime is dynamically linked.

For MinGW (g++)  , recompile with static linking -static to embed all dependencies.
(Without any nasty viruses, if possible. )

I have a Makefile which does it automatically so there is no confusion. I personally hate sharing exe files.

[Akito S. M. Hosana]

Check Dependencies (Run in Command Prompt):

Code:

dumpbin /dependents PuzzleFinder.exe 

(Without any nasty viruses, if possible. )

I personally hate sharing exe files.

> dumpbin /dependents PuzzleFinder.exe
Microsoft (R) COFF/PE Dumper Version 14.42.34438.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.


Dump of file PuzzleFinder.exe

File Type: EXECUTABLE IMAGE

  Image has the following dependencies:

    libgcc_s_seh-1.dll
    libgomp-1.dll
    libstdc++-6.dll
    KERNEL32.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-environment-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-filesystem-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-locale-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-math-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-private-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-string-l1-1-0.dll
    api-ms-win-crt-time-l1-1-0.dll
    libwinpthread-1.dll

Why do you hate exe files - you think someone will intentionally insert something into them? 

[nomachine]

================= WORK IN PROGRESS =================

It will be corrected, though I honestly don’t care what happens to anyone using Windows.

Why do you hate exe files - you think someone will intentionally insert something into them? 

No, I'm most afraid of those who don't even know they have a virus and are spreading it through .exe files.   

[zahid888]

Thank you and I appreciate it!
but I get the following error:

.....and four more DLLs that I don't have. What are the necessary prerequisites?

https://github.com/futuremoneybtc/PuzzleFinder

Fully enhanced with zero bugs.. benchmarks ??

It doesn't work.

I get a blank line after the command. No error, Windows 11.

OMG, I am waiting for benchmarks Lol...The .exe was purring like a champ on my machine, and I totally assumed you all had g++ and MinGW ready to roll in your system environment. Cyclone’s been whipping up a storm here for ages (), and I got a bit carried away! No worries—I’ve jazzed up the GitHub README with a shiny "How to Run the Executable" section. Check it out, and hopefully, that fixes everything!

Can’t wait to see your benchmarks—bring it on! Oh, and here’s a pro tip: for the best treasure-hunting vibes with this .exe, tweak your computer clock back to January 13, 2015. It’ll supercharge the random logic I cooked up... "The logic" That’s precisely why I’ve kept the source code under wraps—I wanted to protect the logic behind this tool from being exposed.

[Akito S. M. Hosana]

No, I'm most afraid of those who don't even know they have a virus and are spreading it through .exe files.   

You're right to be cautious. I already got something slowing down my PC. Downloaded it from a torrent...

[Denevron]

Sometimes, the dumbest solution is the best.
Optimization is good—until it adds more problems than it solves.
Premature optimization? Wasted time.

(You should’ve put this in your signature.)

I wasn’t happy with the simple approach. I thought:
"What if I scaled this across 100 AWS instances?"

So I built:

A Kubernetes cluster for orchestration
Redis for distributed job queueing
S3 for centralized logging
Lambda for failover handling

Now the system could process quadrillions of keys per second… but cost $10,000/month to run. 

P.S. Someone eventually found the key… using a 10-line Python script. 

Python script can solve up to 40-50 bits, but not more, it is too slow! I have an interesting implementation, but to find 68 through it, you need a lot of time because of the speed, but it really reduces the number of options to be sorted! I am trying to transfer it to Cyclone, but so far without success)

[Ovixx]

Thank you and I appreciate it!
but I get the following error:
https://imgur.com/a/rVnEXqC
.....and four more DLLs that I don't have. What are the necessary prerequisites?

https://github.com/futuremoneybtc/PuzzleFinder

Fully enhanced with zero bugs.. benchmarks ??

It doesn't work.

I get a blank line after the command. No error, Windows 11.

OMG, I am waiting for benchmarks Lol...The .exe was purring like a champ on my machine, and I totally assumed you all had g++ and MinGW ready to roll in your system environment. Cyclone’s been whipping up a storm here for ages (), and I got a bit carried away! No worries—I’ve jazzed up the GitHub README with a shiny "How to Run the Executable" section. Check it out, and hopefully, that fixes everything!

Can’t wait to see your benchmarks—bring it on! Oh, and here’s a pro tip: for the best treasure-hunting vibes with this .exe, tweak your computer clock back to January 13, 2015. It’ll supercharge the random logic I cooked up... "The logic" That’s precisely why I’ve kept the source code under wraps—I wanted to protect the logic behind this tool from being exposed.

It works now. I'm running for a single address with 24 threads... the speed is ~91 Mkeys/s but it decreases ... after 3 minutes it reached 62 Mkeys/s

[nomachine]

For anyone still seeing [1;1H instead of proper terminal controls:

PowerShell and Windows Terminal natively support ANSI escape codes, unlike the legacy Command Prompt (cmd.exe).

You need to use anything except cmd.exe for proper functionality.

If you try adding <windows.h> to enable ANSI or UTF-8 support, it may cause macro conflicts with the rest of the script and break parts of it.

Complain to the original author that their script isn't working correctly because they assumed macros would function this way.

[HABJo12]

uSE THIS FOR PYTHON import hashlib
import ecdsa
import random
from multiprocessing import Pool, cpu_count, Manager
import queue

# Define constants
TARGET_HASH160 = "e0b8a2baee1b77fc703455f39d51477451fc8cfc".lower()
LOWER_BOUND = int("80000000000000000", 16)
UPPER_BOUND = int("ffFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF", 16)
KEYS_PER_ITERATION = 1_000_000  # Number of keys to generate per iteration

def private_key_to_hash160(private_key_hex):
    """Generate the Hash160 from a private key using compressed public key."""
    private_key_bytes = bytes.fromhex(private_key_hex)
    sk = ecdsa.SigningKey.from_string(private_key_bytes, curve=ecdsa.SECP256k1)
    vk = sk.get_verifying_key()
    public_key = vk.to_string("compressed")
    sha256_hash = hashlib.sha256(public_key).digest()
    ripemd160 = hashlib.new("ripemd160")
    ripemd160.update(sha256_hash)
    hash160 = ripemd160.hexdigest()
    return hash160

def check_key_range(args):
    """Check a set of random private keys and queue their Hash160 values."""
    num_keys, target_hash160, print_queue, lower_bound, upper_bound = args
    for _ in range(num_keys):
        current_int = random.randint(lower_bound, upper_bound)
        private_key_hex = f"{current_int:064x}"
        hash160 = private_key_to_hash160(private_key_hex)
        print_queue.put((private_key_hex, hash160))
        if hash160.lower() == target_hash160:
            return (private_key_hex, hash160)
    return None

def process_iteration(keys_per_iteration, target_hash160, num_processes, print_queue):
    """Process a set of random keys, printing private keys and Hash160 values."""
    keys_per_process = keys_per_iteration // num_processes
    # Adjust for any remainder
    ranges = [
        (
            keys_per_process if i < num_processes - 1 else keys_per_iteration - (keys_per_process * (num_processes - 1)),
            target_hash160,
            print_queue,
            LOWER_BOUND,
            UPPER_BOUND
        )
        for i in range(num_processes)
    ]

    with Pool(processes=num_processes) as pool:
        result = pool.map_async(check_key_range, ranges)
        while True:
            try:
                priv, h160 = print_queue.get(timeout=0.1)
                print(f"Private Key: {priv}, Hash160: {h160}")
            except queue.Empty:
                if result.ready():
                    break
        results = result.get()

    for res in results:
        if res:
            return res
    return None

def main():
    """Main function to search for a matching Hash160 with random key generation."""
    total_attempts = 0
    iteration = 0
    num_processes = cpu_count()
    manager = Manager()
    print_queue = manager.Queue()

    print(f"Searching for Hash160: {TARGET_HASH160}")
    print(f"Range: {LOWER_BOUND:X} to {UPPER_BOUND:X}")
    print(f"Using {num_processes} processes with {KEYS_PER_ITERATION} keys per iteration\n")

    while True:
        iteration += 1
        total_attempts += KEYS_PER_ITERATION

        print(f"Iteration {iteration}:")
        print(f"Generating {KEYS_PER_ITERATION} random keys...")

        result = process_iteration(KEYS_PER_ITERATION, TARGET_HASH160, num_processes, print_queue)

        if result:
            private_key_hex, hash160 = result
            print(f"\nMatch found after {total_attempts} attempts!")
            print(f"Private Key: {private_key_hex}")
            print(f"Hash160: {hash160}")
            with open("found_match.txt", "w") as f:
                f.write(f"Private Key: {private_key_hex}\nHash160: {hash160}")
            break

        print(f"Completed iteration {iteration}. Total attempts: {total_attempts}\n")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()             IF YOU ARE SATISFIED MAKE DROP A TIP HERE ON  16qw4VqkxSSfKzguDyVzM68jsWw71yEgP4