Congratulations again on solving Puzzle #135. It was an impressive technical achievement, and your dedication is undeniable.
That said, I have mixed feelings after reading that it took around
**200 GPUs running for 5 months**. For many of us, that's simply impossible. Most enthusiasts have one GPU, maybe two if they're lucky. Competing against hundreds of GPUs makes these puzzles feel
less like a test of skill and more like a contest of who has access to the biggest hardware budget.I know the rules never promised an equal playing field, and you earned your success. But it's hard not to feel discouraged when the resources required are far beyond the reach of the average participant. It makes the challenge seem increasingly inaccessible to anyone without substantial computing power.
I hope future community challenges can find ways to reward creativity, optimization, and efficiency—not just raw hardware scale—so more people have a realistic chance to compete.
Congratulations again, and one small favor if you have a few minutes. I've been building a Bitcoin Puzzle research web app and I'm getting close to publishing it. Since you've spent years optimizing this field, I'd really value your feedback.
If you have time, could you please take a quick look and let me know what you think could be improved before I publish it?
https://btc-puzzle-solver-search-lab.ai.studio/Any advice or criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and congratulations once again on your achievement.
The puzzles were primarily created to demonstrate the mathematical reliability, security, and cryptographic strength of the Bitcoin network, with a prize offered to anyone who could overcome them—and that is precisely what RetiredCoder did.
So, there is no need to underestimate him or dismiss him by saying he only has "200 GPU"; he is the only one who managed to improve the "Kangaroo" solver, released it for free, and explained how to use it—yet no one else has succeeded in improving his program. He cracked the four largest puzzles in history—a feat that no one else has achieved, and one that may never be repeated in our time.
This person is in a league of his own; he belongs among those developing quantum computers. I believe his intellect, experience, and knowledge would be invaluable in that field. And I think he is the only one who truly deserves the prize—because he proved that the 135-bit challenge can be solved without issues, even if it requires 200 GPUs. I’m just waiting for him to release the private key for the 135 puzzle; I’m curious to see what part of the search space he was exploring.
