ARG Puzzle with 3.5 BTC Private Key Prize, Game Over

[redsn0w]

I have been going off of the idea that the next phase is going to be a redirection to a video, another image, or a random website.  This is what I think the next step is going to be some sort of transposition on the remaining plain text alpha numeric and/or decoding of the dots.  I have been trying to reverse engineer the process in creating the drawing.  thinking about what I would have control over to change that would still allow the drawing to maintain integrity and coherence.  The things I would not have a problem changing would be letters/numbers, and location of dots and possibly an embedded message in the background colors... this is a really fun puzzle.

Ohhhh yes....

[S4VV4S]

1BoRHtJva2L9YyqB1aS1zqgFUjjftNuZtJ you "missed" a 0.005 there......

EDIT: and a 0.003.... short of "coins"?

5,3-53, hmmmmm

[ryanAC]

Here are the colored dots isolated.... don't know if this leads to any ideas, but you never know...

http://imgur.com/I7XkBQh
http://imgur.com/IkwAS9X
http://imgur.com/6pQfAHe
http://imgur.com/3peQPye
http://imgur.com/ZiBZEAv

[doof]

Here are the colored dots isolated.... don't know if this leads to any ideas, but you never know...

http://imgur.com/I7XkBQh
http://imgur.com/IkwAS9X
http://imgur.com/6pQfAHe
http://imgur.com/3peQPye
http://imgur.com/ZiBZEAv

imgur blocked at work

[mirth23]

stray thoughts:

If we read the dots as some sort of bitstream vertically, we no longer have yellows that are directly adjacent to each other. This might imply that vertical is a better way to go for the dots if we assume yellows are delimiters of some kind.

Steganography is still a possibility. Cicada 3301 used imgur for at least some images, and the hidden messages were not stripped. I tested the tool used in that game (outguess) on our image and didn't find anything useful. The fact that imgur doesn't strip does mean that it's possible that a different tool may have been used to insert a hidden message, or that outguess was used along with a key. I tested a few possible keys from the character string but did not test anything exhaustively. I doubt this is a useful direction to continue going in unless we get a hint leading us this way.

ryanAC: pretty color dot isolates! here's a complimentary, less-pretty, letters-only:

Code:

    s 7    ov   Y 8t    c  a     k z
 3   C m i   u N     2 r h      5   
  1 H     X     U     o     b  w    
     c  B     1        9 c      G   
   D            r  g          h     
 u  h 42 H    D  dJ  d    Jv   r    
  J  U  E r a  O   P  4 i   D    c  
   I  x  b M               y   2  n 
        L   i               3    1  
n     m                   t       H 
  d                          E   h  
i    $    r                L    b   
 wb5     y                  u fe    
    3 T                    C    S v 
   j                         w   o  
 A     U                  r     k 9 
F   z R                    e   7 a  
  e                         J 6     
     2                          Y T 
o  6                           A    
 B   D                       i      
    F                            t  

[doof]

I've read through most of the thread, but not all.  So if this has been disscused, I applogies.

I've taken the CSV values and put in Excel with conditional formatting.  Then horizontally flipped LHS over the RHS and change the opacity.  A visual XOR i guess.

Yields a few "intresting" results and adds more dimensions, like cells containing

!!
!@
!#

and so on.  "doubles" could mean something, like cells that contain double letter pairs
5,3 = Hw
5,6 = hr
3,7 Jc

Cant post the image from work

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

stray thoughts:

If we read the dots as some sort of bitstream vertically, we no longer have yellows that are directly adjacent to each other. This might imply that vertical is a better way to go for the dots if we assume yellows are delimiters of some kind.

Steganography is still a possibility. Cicada 3301 used imgur for at least some images, and the hidden messages were not stripped. I tested the tool used in that game (outguess) on our image and didn't find anything useful. The fact that imgur doesn't strip does mean that it's possible that a different tool may have been used to insert a hidden message, or that outguess was used along with a key. I tested a few possible keys from the character string but did not test anything exhaustively. I doubt this is a useful direction to continue going in unless we get a hint leading us this way.

ryanAC: pretty color dot isolates! here's a complimentary, less-pretty, letters-only:

Code:

    s 7    ov   Y 8t    c  a     k z
 3   C m i   u N     2 r h      5   
  1 H     X     U     o     b  w    
     c  B     1        9 c      G   
   D            r  g          h     
 u  h 42 H    D  dJ  d    Jv   r    
  J  U  E r a  O   P  4 i   D    c  
   I  x  b M               y   2  n 
        L   i               3    1  
n     m                   t       H 
  d                          E   h  
i    $    r                L    b   
 wb5     y                  u fe    
    3 T                    C    S v 
   j                         w   o  
 A     U                  r     k 9 
F   z R                    e   7 a  
  e                         J 6     
     2                          Y T 
o  6                           A    
 B   D                       i      
    F                            t  

From what people have said about Cicada 3301, I can only tell the person who finds the key to stay away from them.

[mirth23]

Been trying some traversal strategies, treating the dots as directions (with blue as the start), and then collecting whatever letters I pass over. Most of them hit endless loops quickly, and all the ones I tried eventually do. This one went further than most before hitting a loop:

blue: right
red: left
green: down
yellow: up

Starting with the blue and using those rules, I get a path like this: http://imgur.com/8SKHIQU which crosses these characters: 3F9aAi

That doesn't seem to contain any useful information and doesn't work as a string on the sites that do take strings that short... not sure if this sort of thing is the right direction or yet another rathole.

[moinen]

Been trying some traversal strategies, treating the dots as directions (with blue as the start), and then collecting whatever letters I pass over. Most of them hit endless loops quickly, and all the ones I tried eventually do. This one went further than most before hitting a loop:

blue: right
red: left
green: down
yellow: up

Starting with the blue and using those rules, I get a path like this: http://imgur.com/8SKHIQU which crosses these characters: 3F9aAi

That doesn't seem to contain any useful information and doesn't work as a string on the sites that do take strings that short... not sure if this sort of thing is the right direction or yet another rathole.

Heh, had the exact same idea yesterday.

[rock_collector]

A couple of thoughts:

1.  Here is another awesome painting by coin_artist (of Andreas Antonopoulos); it appeared in a recent article in Bitcoin Magazine: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aantop_border-498x620.png. She's definitely thinking in 1's and 0's.

2. We know she communicates with us via the blockchain, primarily from 1BoRHtJva2L9YyqB1aS1zqgFUjjftNuZtJ but she could also be sending from other addresses.

It's interesting (and important for guidance or her response to our guessing) to watch the communication via https://blockchain.info/address/1HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEra?offset=0&filter=0

Yesterday she sent amounts starting at .023 btc, then .022, then .021...counting down to .013. Then stopped. When a poster cleverly asked for help in his bitcoin addresses on the blockchain: "what do the red and green dots mean," her amounts counted down again, from .012 to .001. [She left out .008, .005, .003--could have been purposely or problems in sending.] Then .023, then .001, as if to reiterate or make clear.

Later today she sent .005 (perhaps because she had meant to send .005 yesterday but not sure [not sure of anything!].)

There are 23 rows in the grid. Is she implying that we need to read the dots (or the text?) from bottom to top (from 23 to 1)? We are behind the looking glass, after all. There could be some reversals, as many have surmised.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

A couple of thoughts:

1.  Here is another awesome painting by coin_artist (of Andreas Antonopoulos); it appeared in a recent article in Bitcoin Magazine: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aantop_border-498x620.png. She's definitely thinking in 1's and 0's.

2. We know she communicates with us via the blockchain, primarily from 1BoRHtJva2L9YyqB1aS1zqgFUjjftNuZtJ but she could also be sending from other addresses.

It's interesting (and important for guidance or her response to our guessing) to watch the communication via https://blockchain.info/address/1HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEra?offset=0&filter=0

Yesterday she sent amounts starting at .023 btc, then .022, then .021...counting down to .013. Then stopped. When a poster cleverly asked for help in his bitcoin addresses on the blockchain: "what do the red and green dots mean," her amounts counted down again, from .012 to .001. [She left out .008, .005, .003--could have been purposely or problems in sending.] Then .023, then .001, as if to reiterate or make clear.

Later today she sent .005 (perhaps because she had meant to send .005 yesterday but not sure [not sure of anything!].)

There are 23 rows in the grid. Is she implying that we need to read the dots (or the text?) from bottom to top (from 23 to 1)? We are behind the looking glass, after all. There could be some reversals, as many have surmised.

Why the reference to a "she"? Who are you calling "she"?

[rock_collector]

A couple of thoughts:

1.  Here is another awesome painting by coin_artist (of Andreas Antonopoulos); it appeared in a recent article in Bitcoin Magazine: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/aantop_border-498x620.png. She's definitely thinking in 1's and 0's.

2. We know she communicates with us via the blockchain, primarily from 1BoRHtJva2L9YyqB1aS1zqgFUjjftNuZtJ but she could also be sending from other addresses.

It's interesting (and important for guidance or her response to our guessing) to watch the communication via https://blockchain.info/address/1HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEra?offset=0&filter=0

Yesterday she sent amounts starting at .023 btc, then .022, then .021...counting down to .013. Then stopped. When a poster cleverly asked for help in his bitcoin addresses on the blockchain: "what do the red and green dots mean," her amounts counted down again, from .012 to .001. [She left out .008, .005, .003--could have been purposely or problems in sending.] Then .023, then .001, as if to reiterate or make clear.

Later today she sent .005 (perhaps because she had meant to send .005 yesterday but not sure [not sure of anything!].)

There are 23 rows in the grid. Is she implying that we need to read the dots (or the text?) from bottom to top (from 23 to 1)? We are behind the looking glass, after all. There could be some reversals, as many have surmised.

Why the reference to a "she"? Who are you calling "she"?

the artist is a woman

[Coinkle]

"Remember - steganography is so effective bc of the volume of noise" - From YT Coin_Artist via twitter DM on the night of the pictures release

She also told me "there's more than meets the eye"

And "I'm not going to say anything else - can't give things away, "


This is just some personal info I had that i would like to share.

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

"Remember - steganography is so effective bc of the volume of noise" - From YT Coin_Artist via twitter DM on the night of the pictures release

She also told me "there's more than meets the eye"

And "I'm not going to say anything else - can't give things away, "


This is just some personal info I had that i would like to share.

Curious, who is this woman? If she can produce such a painting with a hidden message that even collectively isn't solved yet...I am intrigued. I can only infer it's a man at this point(sorry if I am discriminating here).

Any relation to this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YTCracker. Pretending to be a woman does also infer hidden desires, but I guess this discussion is best left for 4chan.

[rock_collector]

"Remember - steganography is so effective bc of the volume of noise" - From YT Coin_Artist via twitter DM on the night of the pictures release

She also told me "there's more than meets the eye"

And "I'm not going to say anything else - can't give things away, "


This is just some personal info I had that i would like to share.

Curious, who is this woman? If she can produce such a painting with a hidden message that even collectively isn't solved yet...I am intrigued. I can only infer it's a man at this point(sorry if I am discriminating here).

Any relation to this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YTCracker. Pretending to be a woman does also infer hidden desires, but I guess this discussion is best left for 4chan.

Haha, no it's definitely a woman, pretty well-known in bitcoin world. Goes by Y.T. coin_artist on Twitter. She silenced her account during the solving of this puzzle.

[rock_collector]

"Remember - steganography is so effective bc of the volume of noise" - From YT Coin_Artist via twitter DM on the night of the pictures release

She also told me "there's more than meets the eye"

And "I'm not going to say anything else - can't give things away, "


This is just some personal info I had that i would like to share.

Thanks for sharing this!  I remember her saying something on Twitter about "what meets the eye," too. Just wasn't sure she said "there's more than what meets the eye." Either way, we need to focus on the eye in the painting or our own eyes looking at the painting.

At first, I thought she was intimating something about what meets the actual eye in the painting. I've since looked at the yellow triangle in the dark wallet triangle image (thanks to participants!), which points to the blue dot. I've looked at the 8 in the first line that is directly above the eye (and between Y and t, her signature).  If steganography is involved, I'm lost.

[mirth23]

Playing around in GIMP a bit with color channels, brightness/contrast, and saturation, I see a few things that might be interesting:
- the black border area has plenty of artifacts that mostly look like noise to me, but there's occasional surprising geometric regularity to them. there's a chunk in the lower left that looks sort of like 8-bit art, but I can't tweak things to get anything clear (to me) out of it.
- the yellow squares in the lower left quadrant seem extra yellow compared with anything else in the image.
- a few of the darker blue squares with dots look like their color was digitally darkened, but it looks like touch up work.

If this is the correct direction to go in, it's really challenging to tell what's a clue and what's an artifact of the artistic process. Maybe there's some other manipulations people can try out that I'm not thinking of.

[jc01480]

Okay, I have a suspicion.  Look at the RGB and CMY color models:

https://software.intel.com/sites/products/documentation/hpc/ipp/ippi/ippi_ch6/ch6_color_models.html

(Sorry, can't post the pic from a mobile.  Can someone help?)

You'll see why when the example is posted.  It is a three-dimensional block, as in block chain.  Each element in the photo is a separate block.  Overlapping colors make yellow, etc. 

I'm also suspicious that some of this is hexadecimal in the photo. They weren't kidding about the sleepless nights...

[shorena]

3 new TX over night:

spelling

01010011 S
01001111 O
01010011 S

they do not come from the usually address though.

there are also 2 more with 0.0054321 BTC
from 1sosB9wN5ij84GKfo6Xxx8FWyh5fPXVXu

and 0.00098765 BTC
from 1rEDGrNbuqqtbJU12XiU4hvmfM4XaQVcD

the last one also has "no more clues" has a blockchain comment.

rEDGrN was loaded from the one address we access as the one controlled by OP.

https://blockchain.info/de/tx/c353daf8bdbbf74e76ade5d11fec3b0479f20813e15aabb0988f312b04309c1b

Fibnacci looks like a deadend as well.

One of the values is
1000010100010010011
-> 100001010001001001
= 1+13+34+233+987+4181 = 5449 which isnt in base64

there is also no way to encode 0 in fib, so we would be missing 1 letter or wed need to shift by -1 to get a 0.
But 1 or 0 would be encoded 11 which is all over the code. ~ 20/80 times sounds a bit overkill to me. Might be noise but since its ignoring the yellow and blue dot(s) I stopped going down that path.

Playing around in GIMP a bit with color channels, brightness/contrast, and saturation, I see a few things that might be interesting:
- the black border area has plenty of artifacts that mostly look like noise to me, but there's occasional surprising geometric regularity to them. there's a chunk in the lower left that looks sort of like 8-bit art, but I can't tweak things to get anything clear (to me) out of it.
- the yellow squares in the lower left quadrant seem extra yellow compared with anything else in the image.
- a few of the darker blue squares with dots look like their color was digitally darkened, but it looks like touch up work.

If this is the correct direction to go in, it's really challenging to tell what's a clue and what's an artifact of the artistic process. Maybe there's some other manipulations people can try out that I'm not thinking of.

I just check it with inverted colors and the only thing that struck me was:

red and green are complementary colors
blue and yellow are complementary colors as well.

So there might be some sort of code where red/green are one thing and yellow/blue are another thing complementy.

E.g. yellow = shift left, blue = shift right.

Okay, I have a suspicion.  Look at the RGB and CMY color models:

https://software.intel.com/sites/products/documentation/hpc/ipp/ippi/ippi_ch6/ch6_color_models.html

(Sorry, can't post the pic from a mobile.  Can someone help?)

You'll see why when the example is posted.  It is a three-dimensional block, as in block chain.

I'm also suspicious that some of this is hexadecimal in the photo.  They weren't kidding about the sleepless nights...

this one?

[jc01480]

No, the next one down with the plotted coordinates.  And thanks!