Goodbye, world!

[FIFA worldcup]

I found Lauda. He's there, live.. not a cat.
https://youtu.be/KxlPGPupdd8
No clue how these guys kept a straight face. 

[1714818747]

1714818747

[Vod]

I found Lauda. He's there, live.. not a cat.
https://youtu.be/KxlPGPupdd8
No clue how these guys kept a straight face. 

Best reply so far:

"I'm here live, I'm not a cat" sounds like something a cat would say.

[nullius]

As a cult sacrifice in memory of Lauda, I have irrevocably destroyed one satoshi.  To keep the UTXO set tidy, I used OP_RETURN with a 1 sat value and a message to be seen by all auditors of Bitcoin’s monetary supply.  The transaction is also a puzzle, with a prize of 0.001 BTC at the address bc1qt2mdkehmphggajer3ur3g8l754scj4fdrmw3rn.

😼
Cult of Lauda
Sacred Sacrificial txid:
000000000fdf0c619cd8e0d512c7e2c0da5a5808e60f12f1e0d01522d2986a51

One zero nibble for each of Kitty’s nine lives!

It has been a wild forum life, - or perhaps, nine forum lives involving everything from the dark arts of moderation, to being burnt at the stake several times. (I got better.) Thanks to my forum friends, fans, and cult votaries.

Thank you everyone in advance, quite the 9 lives that some Kitty had here.

About the puzzle:  Remember when Bitcoin was fun?  It still is!

Although the creation of this tx took my Satoshi-era CPU way too long grinding, the puzzle does not require any heavy-duty compute power to solve.  Because I am poor, and I have no GPUs (or even adequate CPUs), I would not want to create a puzzle that gives an edge to those who have better hardware.  Bitcoin is for everybody.  Core keeps it so that you can run a full node on an inexpensive SOC board.  I have made it so that the puzzle can be solved with any computer that could run Bitcoin Core.  Yes, you could solve this on a Raspberry Pi.  GPUs will not help you.

000000000fdf0c619cd8e0d512c7e2c0da5a5808e60f12f1e0d01522d2986a51
This nonexistent cat wonders if you can find the private key.

Free images of Lauda!

Rather, it is blockchain art—and it is a puzzle of psychology.  To solve it, you need to think like nullius.  It is essentially a Nullian brainwallet!  Since nobody thinks like nullius, I doubt that the puzzle will ever be solved.  Of course, such statements are oftentimes the last words of lusers with brainwallets—right before they lose their money.  DO NOT USE BRAINWALLETS!  Always use a secure wallet.

000000000fdf0c619cd8e0d512c7e2c0da5a5808e60f12f1e0d01522d2986a51
This nonexistent cat laughs and hisses at brainwallets.

Free images of Lauda!

All of the information required to reconstruct the private key is published on the blockchain.  In one short paragraph, I could write natural-language instructions for using this information to reconstruct the private key with standard Bitcoin tools and libraries.  By the standards of cryptographers, the process of creating the private key is quite insecure.  However, there is neither any restriction on the keyspace, nor any computationally exploitable bias in its use; thus, the key itself is not susceptible to bruteforce.

It is a trick wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a meow.  For Kitty.  Because I miss Kitty.  😿

It's sad to see you go. [...]

I will request that theymos ban the "Lauda" account (u=101872)

Done. Lauda is banned in the same way as satoshi, such that it isn't possible to even log into the account anymore.

If you solve the puzzle, I would appreciate if you would post here with appropriate proofs that you’re the one who got it, and contact me to let me know how you figured it out; but please keep the solution private.  Be cruel.  Leave everyone in suspense.  It is a special way of hiding information in plain sight, for those who love their privacy.  😼

I will give no further hints.  I may give further disinformation to befuddle searchers with false leads.  Lolz.

If the puzzle is unsolved for a very long time, or if this causes idiot-spam on this thread (as I have seen on some other puzzle threads where drooling ignoramuses obsessively search for patterns in random numbers), I reserve the right to end this by sweeping away the prize.  However, I do not want to do that.  The search for the private key controlling this 0.001 BTC is good to keep Lauda’s memory alive.  Naturally, this topic—Lauda’s final thread—is the primary and appropriate venue for discussion of this puzzle.  As much is indicated in the accompanying OP_RETURN.

I wish that I could give more than 0.001 BTC for this, but I cannot afford to.  I expect for that to be worth at least a thousand dollars someday, or perhaps much more!  I hodl my BTC—every sat is precious—dump, dump, DuPM your dollars.

Here’s to you, Kitty!  😺

000000000fdf0c619cd8e0d512c7e2c0da5a5808e60f12f1e0d01522d2986a51
This nonexistent cat challenges you to take my 0.001 BTC—if you can.

Free images of Lauda!

[arranka]

I wish that I could give more than 0.001 BTC for this, but I cannot afford to.  I expect for that to be worth at least a thousand dollars someday, or perhaps much more!  I hodl my BTC—every sat is precious

Anyone could feel free to donate if they wanted to at that address?
so that the balance of that account increases somewhat
or this would be a problem

[The Sceptical Chymist]

It is a trick wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a meow.  For Kitty.  Because I miss Kitty.  😿

Aww.  There's no way I'm attempting to solve your riddle (I'm not good with standard ones anyway, so a blockchain-based one would require more brainpower than I possess at the moment), but I'm sort of missing Lauda as well.  She/he certainly made the forum spicy, and that spiciness has been noticeably lacking since Lauda disappeared.  Perhaps Lauda will break her/his vow and come back one day, though I'm not gonna hold my breath for that.

Nullius, I'm with you on treasuring every satoshi I own, which doesn't amount to much.  I keep thinking about how much you could get from faucets about 3-4 years ago when people were saying faucets were a complete waste of time....now, it doesn't seem like such a waste, does it?

[dkbit98]

I see that nullius is keeping Cult of Lauda alive and well after he became new supreme leader.

In memory of Lauda and all his faithful I created two vanity Lauda addresses and all donations and funds collected there will be used solely for saving cats lives and helping all Lauda Cult veterans dealing with their PTSD.

3LAUDAv3id4CDLC87x6uaR3NjWNRs3NHuP
bc1qlaudahydf4axnjalaf9paz94l2lhh3h4qew0wc

CLM

No animals were harmed during the making of this post

[icopress]

I see that nullius is keeping Cult of Lauda alive and well after he became new supreme leader. [...] No animals were harmed during the making of this post

You are no doubt correct that after Lauda left, nullius is responsible for all the lost sheep of the cult, but I would not say that he can be called the Supreme Leader. As far as I know, he is only the Great Prophet of the Cult. BTW, It's good that you clarified ... while I really appreciate the art, I'm also glad that no cat was harmed during the creation of this unique mural, (the fresco is truly laudivine).

[Cryptotourist]

You are no doubt correct that after Lauda left, nullius is responsible for all the lost sheep of the cult, ~

My doxxie*:



*. Doxxed by a selfie.

[nullius]

I wish that I could give more than 0.001 BTC for this, but I cannot afford to.  I expect for that to be worth at least a thousand dollars someday, or perhaps much more!  I hodl my BTC—every sat is precious

Anyone could feel free to donate if they wanted to at that address?
so that the balance of that account increases somewhat
or this would be a problem

It would be a pleasure to see that happen.

I did not address this before:  If any donations are sent to the puzzle address to increase the prize, I commit that I will move the donated money only if I use it to fund the prize for a new puzzle.

I already have some ideas for new Kitty puzzles.  More customary puzzles, with more hints than “it’s hiding in plain sight” and “think like nullius”.  I am an artistic perfectionist, and I cannot commit to if or when I will get something new made; if there is enough interest in this that someone funds more prize money, that would motivate me to do it.  I also have some other ideas for increased funding for a prize, but nothing definite as of yet.

I am doing this in memory of Lauda, to give people a fun way to play games in her honour.  My incentive, and my only incentive to put and keep my own money up for grabs in the prize is to promote that end.  I want that, so I made the 2021-03-14 puzzle.

If I do something spectacularly special for the puzzles, and someone wants to pay me for it, then I may take an upfront-stated percentage cut and put the rest in the prize pool.  But I will never pilfer for myself any money that others have provided for prizes for puzzles that I made—where I obviously know the secret key.  I must make that absolutely clear.

Nullius, I'm with you on treasuring every satoshi I own, which doesn't amount to much.  I keep thinking about how much you could get from faucets about 3-4 years ago when people were saying faucets were a complete waste of time....now, it doesn't seem like such a waste, does it?

As of 3–4 years ago, I think that many of the “faucet” sites were setting impractically high withdrawal limits so that they could make newbies view ads and solve captchas, but rarely or never pay out.  Some time before that, yes, hitting faucets and then HoDLing may have been worthwhile for somebody.

I know this because in that timeframe, I once tried to use a faucet for privacy purposes.  I had a carefully anonymized UTXO in an amount that needed to be rounded up just a little bit—by not much above the dust limit.  Faucets did not help.

I see that nullius is keeping Cult of Lauda alive and well after he became new supreme leader.

In memory of Lauda and all his faithful I created two vanity Lauda addresses and all donations and funds collected there will be used solely for saving cats lives and helping all Lauda Cult veterans dealing with their PTSD.

3LAUDAv3id4CDLC87x6uaR3NjWNRs3NHuP
bc1qlaudahydf4axnjalaf9paz94l2lhh3h4qew0wc

This being the Reputation forum, I will hold you to that. 

If money is sent to those addresses, please post evidence that the money was sent on to a verifiable cat-related charity, or sent to the prize pool for Official Cult of Lauda puzzles for therapeutic puzzle-solving.  (As stated above, this does not benefit me personally.)


A different kind of Catphish

That got me thinking...

As a pre-emptive strike against Lauda vanity address phishing, I generated the following addresses in a relatively short time on the same ancient CPU that took days to make the 2021-03-14 puzzle tx.

The money sent to these addresses will be used for the purpose of personally enriching me, nullius.  Because that’s how phishes usually work; and Lauda is not here to authorize such use of her name.  As a practical matter, I have no way to stop others from doing this.  Therefore, I will dilute the value of it by doing it more.  Such inflation is almost as easy as for banks to make more dollars:  For native Segwit alone, there are 2¹³⁰ Lauda vanity addresses!

If you appreciate the time and effort that I have spent on this forum for free, then consider these to be nullian tip addresses.  Otherwise, do not send money!

LOL, Meow:

bc1qlaudamekjgcrdzp6q353xj0flvc454z3sjvg3d
3LaudaMejyvrMV6Lnm1GGUhx74eSAdyoXb

Awesome native Segwit:

bc1qlauda0wsvv6wwdd9e8zz3vwtmyzfawprp55kqq
bc1qlauda2g0e06v6h9qed7v5agead4vyl6jengdu5
bc1qlauda2yqfyrva8gxyatmq5eqq42y7r28u8z0j7
bc1qlauda3kma7uy3ge0vmhvurmaat2fvczfds4q0l
bc1qlauda55kyzvum6tfh8wm48qlhufczzcyerpqt4
bc1qlauda5xewf5lzkk9n3t6pl08mgzl659uuujcke
bc1qlauda65pztk06ukv4f9zy30m680v34hq57juj8
bc1qlauda7hwxqvneefuak333t4e4sf7z4nnxl40ah
bc1qlauda9e8eslh5p7lwjuktvtr7dq4rs5x0thn49
bc1qlauda9gyrlc7xt0d2lqm4x8wpaz7dwmku2an25
bc1qlauda9syuk5wpxkzva27qneulju6turpks35px
bc1qlaudadyfptjgtlznzemscrl9yadd5edt5568m4
bc1qlaudaevv2p7vp0l0xpn0sq6zu4xy9tnsjn08kj
bc1qlaudaeyax47myvn2d2r3t9aptt7tks4wulmf0s
bc1qlaudaf0kg2tnh93j8ey093y87h3p7t4pz3hyz7
bc1qlaudafgqzvp5zlaqhgfdrrdnvadjrjcfpwvt5e
bc1qlaudakv9c9w45nlsuf3qw8nx4jz7d43805vnrd
bc1qlaudalrxzptvqga8sa9hxnj9k3jjw6f2w826cc
bc1qlaudamqqj8xaewvrh5kz3ymhr7cwqzrrex3tr7
bc1qlaudanhp4x5jcsthtay8etqdlptc8s9nexjwjd
bc1qlaudanyt2x4zc4egyzw5vd58ssp59jf53t2vn8
bc1qlaudarfggg59jeg4l3clhteynh7cpa205kcmhe
bc1qlaudascsgmvu0lu4yhyeudruyl53rw9kph7yul
bc1qlaudaswtncklhw6vemkzhrkys6znsq6wrhk6xp
bc1qlaudavk0yjr24l9vunrlynh4fad5lhjc3dqu0j
bc1qlaudavnqz3rzlg70srcekwgq4cp4yyc94wde24
bc1qlaudavxuzz255uvv97q5te3qhk5seygz99s28e
bc1qlaudaw9qh9p70tjng9680tx6mjl3upznhj6jzk
bc1qlaudawsaeg2wmwef8q8zgsg2ej3k5l0lxg9zyy
bc1qlaudaztnwwrhhqnzu83j6sp0wg2q96qlnp0udm

Obsolete nested addresses, for receiving money from n00bs who don’t know how to choose a good wallet:

3LAUDAenR4LYZ9MR5Q4wt9AC5WFNmMenJ2
3LAUDA2RukXRiAHskR7kLUENjqjaNzPf7H
3LaudaAGhnVcUcDKHJQsH8iNvZ9szE8fUE
3LaudaNGf1QZCMK5GQzDvDfYVbbTiKXG13
3Laudanu3r17xupp2qPUWfFAoEaqumxzwR
3Lauda8HoacSKZEsmFkXxNwQ6eeunTJhtc
3LaudaH2Y3tpJyzTpbQjLquxMfHtx7pEme
3LaudaBU5RYbHxDbrX7xdvnvRDUSbofFGU
3LaudaH34dsYzSSKXCvuNQKBykAhmTg5Pr
...

You are no doubt correct that after Lauda left, nullius is responsible for all the lost sheep of the cult, but I would not say that he can be called the Supreme Leader. As far as I know, he is only the Great Prophet of the Cult.

No, my title is the Grand Prophet!  Cult leaders are fussy about titles—even the NULL non-leaders of nonexistent cults.  :-)

You are no doubt correct that after Lauda left, nullius is responsible for all the lost sheep of the cult, ~

My doxxie*:



*. Doxxed by a selfie.

The magical result:

This image took me way too long
to get pixel-perfect.
I should make of it an NFT.

[dkbit98]

This being the Reputation forum, I will hold you to that. 

If money is sent to those addresses, please post evidence that the money was sent on to a verifiable cat-related charity, or sent to the prize pool for Official Cult of Lauda puzzles for therapeutic puzzle-solving.  (As stated above, this does not benefit me personally.)

Please note that private keys for that two addresses can be found in public (like it should with all Lauda related matters)
and that anyone who has the speed and the vision of the cat can use that funds for their own personal pleasure or even for building giant Cat ashram in Croatia.

[nullius]

Please note that private keys for that two addresses can be found in public (like it should with all Lauda related matters)
and that anyone who has the speed and the vision of the cat can use that funds for their own personal pleasure or even for building giant Cat ashram in Croatia.

In case it was another puzzle, I did give a quick look at your graphic (beneath the surface) before I posted.  I didn’t see anything, and the addresses have no funds and no past transactions; so I did not look further.

Electrum signatures:

Code:

-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Meow.
-----BEGIN SIGNATURE-----
3LAUDAv3id4CDLC87x6uaR3NjWNRs3NHuP
IHb32py0ALS1cdtZnMyEL25YGeuVugjWCucNTtCA7g5dLwol0DMSRcZ9jXu3TP+xwlBNjIOyXNDMId+PFBn1ysk=
-----END BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----

😼

Code:

-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
2021-03-25:  I am Lauda/Satoshi Nakamoto, and I invented Bitcoin.  (LOL, not.)
-----BEGIN SIGNATURE-----
bc1qlaudahydf4axnjalaf9paz94l2lhh3h4qew0wc
H8wp9jtP/TZ9XP3Yj4HZYoSOwr7nZGtMpo4aLgbPz2J8FJH3BxCj+V3kaPKMVJzBgkyMQE21d+/pcXu265M5+BE=
-----END BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----

[cabalism13]

 
Has anyone think that the owner of the account was ill and just left this message that the cat quitted? but actually died? (random thoughts - not so bad I think  )
Oh I just missed having a cat here as well as the crazy old guy named TMAN.
(Even JetCash now is too quiet... Only the Vixens are doing some vibrant noises)

man, I think I'm growing old here...

...

Added Curse: +29
Catmify 2222

[DaCryptoRaccoon]

Shocked to see Lauda vanish like this I wish you all the best in your future ventures you will be missed by many!

Now lets crack this puzzle!

 

[gullu]

Can anyone say what happened to her? Is she alive? I can see Goodbye, World message in her Btt profile. Does anyone really know her in this forum?

[nullius]

Has anyone think that the owner of the account was ill and just left this message that the cat quitted? but actually died? (random thoughts - not so bad I think  )

I also had this thought, and many others.  Some of the things that she said seemed to hint in that direction; but it was all so vague, and I could be seeing nonexistent hints through the lens of my own worries.  I can only hope that she is alive and well—somewhere out there.

This cypherpunk anonymity thing has its downsides.  I also hope that Satoshi is alive and well...  Such is the nature of life in the nym zone.

...

Added Curse: +29
Catmify 2222

Oh, noes!  I had thought myself safe from catmification curses after the Catbat Witch made herself disappear.  But the lingering echoes of her magic still enthrall me.

Shocked to see Lauda vanish like this I wish you all the best in your future ventures you will be missed by many!

Now lets crack this puzzle!

 

Any luck thus far? 

Can anyone say what happened to her?

No.  And anyone who claims to is lying.

Is she alive?

Unknown and unknowable.

Does anyone really know her in this forum?

No.  And anyone who claims to is lying.  I myself knew her just well enough to be sure of that.  I still don’t even know if she was a “she”.

She did reveal to me that her first name is “Laura”, she literally is a cat, she knows real witchcraft, and she is married to the Terminator.  As proof, I have Lauda KYC dox signed with a pawprint.  Beyond that, she is as mysterious as Satoshi.

[Vod]

Can anyone say what happened to her? Is she alive? I can see Goodbye, World message in her Btt profile. Does anyone really know her in this forum?

Let me explain it.

Lauda was a forum account.  Lauda committed "suicide" by making it impossible for him to access this forum.  Lauda no longer exists.

That being said, the real person could be posting under a different account name. 

[nullius]

Lauda was a forum account.  Lauda committed "suicide" by making it impossible for him to access this forum.  Lauda no longer exists.

Lauda also revoked and/or declared compromised all keys associated with her identity.  That is more significant; and I believe that she fully understood why.

My only PGP-key has been compromised and revoked. All previous Bitcoin signed messages are invalid. As of this point there is no way to confirm ownership of Lauda.

That being said, the real person could be posting under a different account name. 

Although such a negative cannot be proved, I am morally certain that Lauda is really gone.  I don’t know why there is a common urge to speculate about alts, as if people cannot leave this forum.  What is this, Hell?  “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

[Quickseller]

I also hope that Satoshi is alive and well... 

This is unlikely. Satoshi mined an estimated million bitcoin, and has not touched them despite his stash being worth an estimated $60 billion. I think he is either dead, or has lost his keys, in which case he is living with the fact that he lost something that would make him the ~22nd richest person in the world.

Does anyone really know her in this forum?

I know that at least one person knew lauda on a personal basis. This was before lauda became infamous, and was a low profile forum member.

[DaCryptoRaccoon]

I also hope that Satoshi is alive and well... 

This is unlikely. Satoshi mined an estimated million bitcoin, and has not touched them despite his stash being worth an estimated $60 billion. I think he is either dead, or has lost his keys, in which case he is living with the fact that he lost something that would make him the ~22nd richest person in the world.

Does anyone really know her in this forum?

I know that at least one person knew lauda on a personal basis. This was before lauda became infamous, and was a low profile forum member.

Or it's possible the coins are actually hidden in a cryptographic puzzle waiting to be unlocked.

Only he who has a loving heart, a true faith in God and a focused mind will make the discovery. The ownership is guarded by Trinity - a passphrase combined of the other 3. The last is not easy but doable with God's willing..

Still not been able to crack it but getting there!

[nullius]

I also hope that Satoshi is alive and well...  

This is unlikely.

Most hopes are false; and the persistent self-delusion of Hope is what drives mortals to endure suffering.  That is why the ancient Greeks placed Hope at the bottom of Pandora’s Box, as the enabler of all of the other ills of the world—“the most malign of evils” (in Nietzsche’s description).  Hope is truly a wicked device of psychological torture.

Of course, you are correct:  Satoshi is probably dead, or otherwise incapacitated.  Nonetheless, I hope that Satoshi is alive and well.  And that is the nature of Hope!

<edit> Yes, I realize the irony of making this observation right after the Dante quote in my prior post.  The juxtaposition neatly illustrates how much Western culture has changed—in my opinion, how badly it has been corrupted.  In ancient Greece, Hope was an evilly self-destructive foolishness; in Dante’s worldview, Hope was what one must most fear losing at the entrance to Hell. </edit>

Does anyone really know her in this forum?

I know that at least one person knew lauda on a personal basis. This was before lauda became infamous, and was a low profile forum member.

That is only credible if he has seen the secret grimoire.  

I do know that there have been multiple instances of liars claiming falsely to know Lauda’s identity; and in at least one instance, some idiot passed off a completely unrelated person’s real dox as Lauda’s.  The harm caused to random bystanders by such chicanery is my principal reason for being so emphatic here.