Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

[TippingPoint]

Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a

[1714993633]

1714993633

[1714993633]

1714993633

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

Ok, let me power up my 27,000 qubit TRUE quantum computer.

[greyhawk]

I'll get right on to that.


EDIT: The password is "swordfish"

[sidhujag]

Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a

Who or what is that?

[Alty]

I'm not a computer wizzard but I read somewhere it would take between 1 and 10 billion years for a normal computer to hack a private key, how can anybody take those bitcoins?

http://miguelmoreno.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fYFBsqp.jpg

[TippingPoint]

With what you know it should be easy _{-The Rolling Stones}

[elasticband]

password = PrInCeSs BuTtErCuP5.0

[best_btc]

so what can be done there? what is that password for?

[best_btc]

i googled the btc address...
http://pastebin.com/0R3ab6pQ

[giveaway]

Thats alot of bitcoin,,, If i had that i dont know what to do with it silkroad is down id have nothing to spend it on.

[giveaway]

I don't think that there is a way to take it though..

You can take it. If you have 17 million fucking super computers!
Even if all of us at bitcoin talk tried to brute force it together we couldnt do it

[TippingPoint]

Brute force won't work.

His roommates reported...
Ulbricht was more often seen curled up in a living roof sofa reading—possibly sci-fi novels from the local library–when not at his computer.

and he was arrested in the tiny science fiction section of the Glen Park (SF) library.

private key is based on text from
http://www.freewebs.com/yotopia2/Heinlein-Stranger-In-A-Strange-Land.pdf

[Nancarrow]

Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a

I'd be happy to. What's the private key?

Actually, I'm going to bed now. You'd better PM me. Oh wait, I've also got to poison all the board's admins and mods. Shit, did I say that out loud?

[dope]

I'm not a computer wizzard but I read somewhere it would take between 1 and 10 billion years for a normal computer to hack a private key, how can anybody take those bitcoins?

http://miguelmoreno.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fYFBsqp.jpg

but what if you are lucky and you get it first try?

[balanghai]

Hey it's easy. The password is 1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a too. 

[AU]

Gubermint closing in lol

[TippingPoint]

I'll get right on to that.


EDIT: The password is "swordfish"

password = PrInCeSs BuTtErCuP5.0

Hey it's easy. The password is 1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a too.  

Hint:
The password starts with the number 5

[videos4btc]

why is there BTC leaving the account?  

Because I got in !

Nooo but seriously why is there?

[NewLiberty]

Total Received still = Final Balance. (none left as of this post)
https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a
Doesn't the US government already have more bitcoin than any other government as a result of Silk Road?
These coins in 1933 are not alleged to be, much less proven to be, Silk Road coins, right?
So even if you convinced yourself that you hated the US government, you still could not justify attacking this wallet.... right?

More ethics please.

[videos4btc]

Total Received still = Final Balance. (none left as of this post)
https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a
Doesn't the US government already have more bitcoin than any other government as a result of Silk Road?
These coins in 1933 are not alleged to be, much less proven to be, Silk Road coins, right?
So even if you convinced yourself that you hated the US government, you still could not justify attacking this wallet.... right?

More ethics please.

The final balance keeps going down?
when I typed my initial post it was 15,000,000

[NewLiberty]

Total Received still = Final Balance. (none left as of this post)
https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a
Doesn't the US government already have more bitcoin than any other government as a result of Silk Road?
These coins in 1933 are not alleged to be, much less proven to be, Silk Road coins, right?
So even if you convinced yourself that you hated the US government, you still could not justify attacking this wallet.... right?

More ethics please.

The final balance keeps going down?
when I typed my initial post it was 15,000,000

Maybe you are looking at an exchange value?

Transactions
No. Transactions   74   
Total Received   111,114.60025818 BTC   
Final Balance   111,114.60025818 BTC

[videos4btc]

Total Received still = Final Balance. (none left as of this post)
https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a
Doesn't the US government already have more bitcoin than any other government as a result of Silk Road?
These coins in 1933 are not alleged to be, much less proven to be, Silk Road coins, right?
So even if you convinced yourself that you hated the US government, you still could not justify attacking this wallet.... right?

More ethics please.

The final balance keeps going down?
when I typed my initial post it was 15,000,000

Maybe you are looking at an exchange value?

Transactions
No. Transactions   74   
Total Received   111,114.60025818 BTC   
Final Balance   111,114.60025818 BTC

strange stuff nah....dollar value on this: https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a

Now it is $ 15,016,027.08 . I think I'm just going crazy...

[sidhujag]

usa sux shit

[crazy_rabbit]

Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a

The way things are going for DPR, those coins might be gone forever.

[DoomDumas]

Maybe this adress is a bitcoin destructor (no known private key) and a rich entity is trying to destroy as much bitcoin as possible..  Long way to go, less than 1% coin in this adress..

[favdesu]

Brute force won't work.

His roommates reported...
Ulbricht was more often seen curled up in a living roof sofa reading—possibly sci-fi novels from the local library–when not at his computer.

and he was arrested in the tiny science fiction section of the Glen Park (SF) library.

private key is based on text from
http://www.freewebs.com/yotopia2/Heinlein-Stranger-In-A-Strange-Land.pdf

alright, let's assume this is correct and he did in fact use a brainwallet:

address is: 1933...

so I tried page 19 paragraph 33 - nothing

I went to page 9, that's the start of chapter III

but nothing :<

[NewLiberty]

Brute force won't work.

His roommates reported...
Ulbricht was more often seen curled up in a living roof sofa reading—possibly sci-fi novels from the local library–when not at his computer.

and he was arrested in the tiny science fiction section of the Glen Park (SF) library.

private key is based on text from
http://www.freewebs.com/yotopia2/Heinlein-Stranger-In-A-Strange-Land.pdf

alright, let's assume this is correct and he did in fact use a brainwallet:

address is: 1933...

so I tried page 19 paragraph 33 - nothing

I went to page 9, that's the start of chapter III

but nothing :<

Different editions, different printings, different words...  How many are there for the classic Heinlein SiaSL?
Even if it is lost pirate treasure...

[favdesu]

Different editions, different printings, different words...  How many are there for the classic Heinlein SiaSL?
Even if it is lost pirate treasure...

true... mh, someone should probably visit that library...

[TippingPoint]

Different editions, different printings, different words...  How many are there for the classic Heinlein SiaSL?
Even if it is lost pirate treasure...

true... mh, someone should probably visit that library...

OK

specific edition:
Author    Heinlein, Robert A. (Robert Anson), 1907-1988
Title    Stranger in a strange land.
Publication Info.    New York : Putnam, [1961]
ISBN    0441790348
Description    408 p. 22 cm.

The brain wallet key may be based on a book in the science fiction section of the Glen Park branch of the San Francisco Public Library.





Hint: he was looking at Heinlein (they only have Stranger in a Strange Land)

specific edition:  
Author    Heinlein, Robert A. (Robert Anson), 1907-1988
Title    Stranger in a strange land.
Publication Info.    New York : Putnam, [1961]
ISBN    0441790348
Description    408 p. 22 cm.

Remember me ↓

[sidhujag]

Brute force won't work.

His roommates reported...
Ulbricht was more often seen curled up in a living roof sofa reading—possibly sci-fi novels from the local library–when not at his computer.

and he was arrested in the tiny science fiction section of the Glen Park (SF) library.

private key is based on text from
http://www.freewebs.com/yotopia2/Heinlein-Stranger-In-A-Strange-Land.pdf

alright, let's assume this is correct and he did in fact use a brainwallet:

address is: 1933...

so I tried page 19 paragraph 33 - nothing

I went to page 9, that's the start of chapter III

but nothing :<

1933 could be a year... something happen in 1933 in the book?

[Melbustus]

1933 could be a year... something happen in 1933 in the book?

Yes, it's obviously referring to the year 1933. Every good monetary historian, libertarian, and decentralist knows that 1933 is the year FDR confiscated gold from the citizenry and then promptly re-valued it, thereby thieving 70% of the value from the people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102

I think it's a safe assumption that a bitcoin early adopter with a wallet starting with "1933" was referring to this. Doesn't mean it's DPR's wallet, though.

[greyhawk]

I'll get right on to that.


EDIT: The password is "swordfish"

password = PrInCeSs BuTtErCuP5.0

Hey it's easy. The password is 1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a too.  

Hint:
The password starts with the number 5

5wordfish

Told you so.

[NewLiberty]

Brute force won't work.

His roommates reported...
Ulbricht was more often seen curled up in a living roof sofa reading—possibly sci-fi novels from the local library–when not at his computer.

and he was arrested in the tiny science fiction section of the Glen Park (SF) library.

private key is based on text from
http://www.freewebs.com/yotopia2/Heinlein-Stranger-In-A-Strange-Land.pdf

alright, let's assume this is correct and he did in fact use a brainwallet:

address is: 1933...

so I tried page 19 paragraph 33 - nothing

I went to page 9, that's the start of chapter III

but nothing :<

1933 could be a year... something happen in 1933 in the book?

Hunting a wild goose is sort of fun, but I am reticent on the matter.  This really looks like a cloud-sourced theft attempt, and so not meriting my code-breaking chops.
That aside, I'd doubt the address is a firstbits address.
1933 was the year that Heinlein contracted Tubercluosis, causing him to retire from the Navy.
It isn't really a significant year in his novels, I've read most:


But if I were looking for a code for it, and was assuming it to be DPR's, June and July 2011 would be the time to think about, not the time near the arrest.

It may not be DPR's.  If it is, why do you feel entitled to hack at it?
Freeing the bitcoins from this wallet may cause you more harm than enrichment.
Oh ye with breath within yer chest.   Touch not, the cursed coins!

[TippingPoint]

It may not be DPR's.  If it is, why do you feel entitled to hack at it?

See the thread title.

They have his computer, and will analyze every sector and cluster on it, erased or not.

[NewLiberty]

It may not be DPR's.  If it is, why do you feel entitled to hack at it?

See the thread title.

They have his computer, and will analyze every sector and cluster on it, erased or not.

Yes, though I suspect that will not provide much more than what they have already in this regard.

So... either you are hoping to be stealing from him (or someone else), or you are doing a favor for him (and aiding and abetting an alleged criminal), or stealing from a government?

Please don't misunderstand, I am not judging you, I am just curious.  I don't know whose wallet it is (despite circumstantial evidence), or what your thinking is on the matter.  As a puzzle to be solved, it promises to be a fun one...to think about.  Codebreaking is great fun.  It just "feels" wrong to me, personally, to act on it.  Like trespassing in a landmine sort of wrong.   But then, as much as I am not anonymous, I deeply respect the anonymity and privacy of others, as well as the boundaries of mine/not-mine.  Further, I am not at war with *anything* so I have no extra justifications for challenging my own ethical boundaries.

I do heartily wish you every good fortune, and safe travels on your adventure with this.

If no one opens it, it just reduces the total bitcoin in circulation which improves the value of all bitcoin now by 1% (and later by .5%), yes?  That seems OK to me too.

[favdesu]

So... either you are hoping to be stealing from him (or someone else), or you are doing a favor for him (and aiding and abetting an alleged criminal), or stealing from a government?

would it be stealing if someone would own the private key in your opinion?

[BitTrade]

If no one opens it, it just reduces the total bitcoin in circulation which improves the value of all bitcoin now by 1% (and later by .5%), yes?  That seems OK to me too.

Theoretically, it seems like this would not raise the value of bitcoin by 1%.  For example, if you eliminate 50% of all the bitcoins, it would double the value of each existing bitcoin (+100%), since half the coins are seeking the same amount of goods.  

I'm not sure what the equation is for the theoretical rise in value given X% amount of coins removed from circulation, but it's not (2X).  It seems exponential in my head, but maybe an economist could chime in.

[TippingPoint]

So... either you are hoping to be stealing from him (or someone else), or you are doing a favor for him (and aiding and abetting an alleged criminal), or stealing from a government?

I look at it this way...

Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

[Gladdy]

lol , people are taking the add to do advertise !

[niothor]

First was about stealing the fbi bitcoins or prevent them from using it (mining cartel) , now steal from an unidentified person...

Glad to see the bitcoin community is going homer simpson

[NewLiberty]

So... either you are hoping to be stealing from him (or someone else), or you are doing a favor for him (and aiding and abetting an alleged criminal), or stealing from a government?

would it be stealing if someone would own the private key in your opinion?

Sorry for this but I might not be understanding the question.  If you are asking:
"Is it stealing if you crack a wallet that does not belong to you without permission of the rightful owner of the (private key of the) wallet."
Yes, I think that is stealing.

I don't think anyone is really arguing that it isn't stealing, (or plunder, if it is indeed pirate booty).  Instead I think that they feel that it is justified because of their belief about who might own it and the circumstances around that.

[nikona]

wow .. thats a lot of money and it just gone like that?

[DodoB]

Well i would take it, ONLY IF I KNEW HOWto escape FBI,CIA,NSA,NASA and the whole US army who wants me to give their coins back






Seriously is it even possible to take thoose coins

[NewLiberty]

Well i would take it, ONLY IF I KNEW HOWto escape FBI,CIA,NSA,NASA and the whole US army who wants me to give their coins back


Seriously is it even possible to take thoose coins

If it is, Bitcoin is finished.

[mccorvic]

Well i would take it, ONLY IF I KNEW HOWto escape FBI,CIA,NSA,NASA and the whole US army who wants me to give their coins back


Seriously is it even possible to take thoose coins

If it is, Bitcoin is finished.

True dat.

It really is funny how these crazy types are so scared of the "guvernmint" that they are wiling to destroy themselves just to spite them.

[ladyfox]

i wonder if that guy have forgot his wallet pass or detail , god thats a lot $$

[havecoch]

Please take this $16,600,522 before the government gets it...

https://blockchain.info/address/1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a

if the government are able to do so there will be no price on it anymore

[uck]

I'm not a computer wizzard but I read somewhere it would take between 1 and 10 billion years for a normal computer to hack a private key, how can anybody take those bitcoins?

http://miguelmoreno.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fYFBsqp.jpg

Teamwork!

[trichome]

This is our way in...These paid fools let to much info out.

[David Rabahy]

I'm not a computer wizzard but I read somewhere it would take between 1 and 10 billion years for a normal computer to hack a private key, how can anybody take those bitcoins?

http://miguelmoreno.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fYFBsqp.jpg

Teamwork!

Hack a private key = brute force

How many private keys can a normal computer try each second?  Feel free to be generous.  A trillion you say?  Whoa, but ok.  2^40.  How many computers on your team?  Be generous.  A trillion you say?  Whoa, another 2^40.  Wow, every second the team is trying 2^80 private keys.  There are about 2^25 seconds in a year.  So, that first year the team knocks down 2^105 private keys, nice.  So, in the first trillion years the team (we'll call them a dedicated bunch) will get 2^145 private keys done.  Oh, darn the end of the universe is coming up and we are still short by a factor of 2^256/2^145=2^111.  Oh, we're gonna need faster than normal computers and a really big team.

[User705]

The answer is 42.

[User705]

So... either you are hoping to be stealing from him (or someone else), or you are doing a favor for him (and aiding and abetting an alleged criminal), or stealing from a government?

would it be stealing if someone would own the private key in your opinion?

Sorry for this but I might not be understanding the question.  If you are asking:
"Is it stealing if you crack a wallet that does not belong to you without permission of the rightful owner of the (private key of the) wallet."
Yes, I think that is stealing.

I don't think anyone is really arguing that it isn't stealing, (or plunder, if it is indeed pirate booty).  Instead I think that they feel that it is justified because of their belief about who might own it and the circumstances around that.

I'd love to hear what you mean by "a wallet that doesn't belong to you"?

[viboracecata]

Wow, but how if it is just one online wallet.

[viboracecata]

I'll get right on to that.


EDIT: The password is "swordfish"

password = PrInCeSs BuTtErCuP5.0

Hey it's easy. The password is 1933phfhK3ZgFQNLGSDXvqCn32k2buXY8a too.  

Hint:
The password starts with the number 5

Are you serious?

[Aswan]

I'm not a computer wizzard but I read somewhere it would take between 1 and 10 billion years for a normal computer to hack a private key, how can anybody take those bitcoins?

http://miguelmoreno.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/fYFBsqp.jpg

If it only took 1-10 billion years then that would be a problem. Splitting the work between 1-10 billion computers would then make is a 1 year quest only. How you know how ASICs compare to everyday computers regarding the mining speed. Imagine an ASIC which sole purpose it is to find a given bitcoin address. That would probably reduce it to 10k-100k of these machines (plus you can add in some normal computers to substitute for not having as many ASICs in the beginning at a 1:100 rate (for the beginning, these ASICs would, over time, be 1000 times and more faster than a normal PC).

Now also imagine you don't only look for only one address, but... lets say the Top 1000 BTC addresses. If this 1-10 billion years and there fore the 1 years with the power of 1-10 billion machines is correct and the worst case scenario, hat would leave you with ~2,74 of those top 1000 address' private key being found PER DAY. If it's not the worst case scenario but an average, that would leave you with only ~1,37 private keys per day.

Someone please enlighten me if the 1-10 billion thingy is correct because that could be a huge problem regarding the fact that computer power increases rapidly.

[niniyo]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

[SPC_Bitcoin]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/10/17/does-this-17-million-bitcoin-wallet-belong-to-alleged-silk-road-mastermind-ross-ulbricht/

UC-San Diego academic Sarah Meiklejohn, who has done work de-anonymizing Bitcoin transactions, confirmed the link between the two addresses. But she said it wasn’t conclusive, and that ownership of the Bitcoins could have changed hands during the transactions. In other words, the wallets may be linked, but it doesn’t mean they’re both owned by the same people.

“Given that the [$17-million wallet] has the largest amount of bitcoins in any one address (and has for a while), people are always going to be eager to try to unmask its owner,” she said by email. “But I seriously doubt any type of blockchain analysis could do this definitively (unless it eventually spends its bitcoins; that’s a different story entirely!).”

[SPC_Bitcoin]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

What about the two factor authentication?

[niniyo]

What about the two factor authentication?

Ummm..what?

[fbueller]

If you're talking about brute forcing, you would be looking to brute force the raw private key. Once you have that you can spend the coins. Two factor is redundant if someone has a key which is not password protected. It's the same reason changing your wallets password wont do you any good if it's compromised, you need to send to a new address, related to a new private key.

[Leehoya]

I guess its a pro getting so much popularity for a bitcoin address, alot of small spams increases the bitcoin amount.

[Mitchell]

Let all the miners collaborate in a vanitygen.

[jerelimZ]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

2^160 is 1,46e+48. Good luck even if you bruteforcing 1000s of top addresses with dedicated asic units and your own power plant 

[niniyo]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

2^160 is 1,46e+48. Good luck even if you bruteforcing 1000s of top addresses with dedicated asic units and your own power plant 

Yeah.. it's impossible.. hence why bitcoin is secure.  I just get annoyed when I see people incorrectly saying that brute force requires 2^256 work.  You are *not* searching for a specific private key, because you don't even know the user's public key.  You are trying to generate a keypair which, when hashed, collides with their bitcoin address, thus allowing you to spend from it.

[NewLiberty]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

2^160 is 1,46e+48. Good luck even if you bruteforcing 1000s of top addresses with dedicated asic units and your own power plant 

Yeah.. it's impossible.. hence why bitcoin is secure.  I just get annoyed when I see people incorrectly saying that brute force requires 2^256 work.  You are *not* searching for a specific private key, because you don't even know the user's public key.  You are trying to generate a keypair which, when hashed, collides with their bitcoin address, thus allowing you to spend from it.

There haven't been any significant deposits to 1933 since November'12 so one might expect there to be other lost chests stranded around.  With all the spotlight on this wallet, the enterprising treasure-hunter/thief might better quest at other cursed coin caches.

This legendary pirate has left in the wake of his sunken vessel an intriguing tale of absconded booty for digital diggers of posterity.

[NewLiberty]

So... either you are hoping to be stealing from him (or someone else), or you are doing a favor for him (and aiding and abetting an alleged criminal), or stealing from a government?

would it be stealing if someone would own the private key in your opinion?

Sorry for this but I might not be understanding the question.  If you are asking:
"Is it stealing if you crack a wallet that does not belong to you without permission of the rightful owner of the (private key of the) wallet."
Yes, I think that is stealing.

I don't think anyone is really arguing that it isn't stealing, (or plunder, if it is indeed pirate booty).  Instead I think that they feel that it is justified because of their belief about who might own it and the circumstances around that.

I'd love to hear what you mean by "a wallet that doesn't belong to you"?

c.f. artistic license


Or if you prefer, consider the difference between owning the wallet and pwning it.

Realistically, the statistical probability of anyone getting at these coins without the pvt key is... unlikely.  So if here be something ulterior, perhaps the purpose of plausible deniability for the prospective prospector partaking in the probabalistically preposterous?

Yeah... with all these trying... just maybe that future spender of these, is just, lucky. 

[David Rabahy]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

Is it actually less than 160 since the first character has to be 1?

How many addresses can a normal computer try each second?  Feel free to be generous.  A trillion you say?  Whoa, but ok.  2^40.  How many computers on your team?  Be generous.  A trillion you say?  Whoa, another 2^40.  Wow, every second the team is trying 2^80 addresses.  There are about 2^25 seconds in a year.  So, that first year the team knocks down 2^105 addresses, nice.  So, in the first trillion years the team will get 2^145 addresses done.  Oh, darn the end of the universe is coming up and we are still short by a factor of 2^160/2^145=2^15.  Oh, we're gonna need faster than normal computers and a really big team.

[n4ru]

To all the people saying 2^256, please know that it's actually 2^160 to brute force a bitcoin address.  You don't need to find the exact private key, you just need to find another key which collides with the hash to form the same address.  Did you know that for any given bitcoin address, you can expect there to be roughly 2^96 different public keys which are valid for that address.. and so you just need to generate *one* of them to be able to spend from that address.

Is it actually less than 160 since the first character has to be 1?

How many addresses can a normal computer try each second?  Feel free to be generous.  A trillion you say?  Whoa, but ok.  2^40.  How many computers on your team?  Be generous.  A trillion you say?  Whoa, another 2^40.  Wow, every second the team is trying 2^80 addresses.  There are about 2^25 seconds in a year.  So, that first year the team knocks down 2^105 addresses, nice.  So, in the first trillion years the team will get 2^145 addresses done.  Oh, darn the end of the universe is coming up and we are still short by a factor of 2^160/2^145=2^15.  Oh, we're gonna need faster than normal computers and a really big team.

It's not realistically possible. The most efficient (performance for the price) GPU at address hashing is the 5870, doing ~30Mkey/s (roughly 2^30). With the difficulty of cracking exponentially rising upwards to 2^60, it's definitely not going to be possibly pre-quantum.

[niniyo]

Is it actually less than 160 since the first character has to be 1?

That is *added* after the 160 bit hash.  Please read about how addresses are made here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Technical_background_of_Bitcoin_addresses

[NewLiberty]

Its over 18MM now, hurry up!  LOL

[leopard2]

the government wants to destroy BTC not own it

they have a much better currency, based on Proof-of-Force, which can only be mined by the regime at zero difficulty or extraced from other stakeholders by a process called taxes

everybody else has got to use it. This curreny is called USD in the US, EUR in Europe and so on ...