ARG Puzzle with 3.5 BTC Private Key Prize, Game Over

[Krona Rev]

Update 6/28:

Do not rely solely on Users for solves, double check solves for user errors: #checkuser404

OP made no mistakes.
 
confirmed:

- Public Address has been solved: 1HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEra

- embedded morse code: "They cannot attack what they DO not see," has been solved.

No more clues. Good Bye and Good Luck.

Oh god. This shit is getting tense.

Where is this message from?

OP, it has been updated.

Thanks. Based on the checkuser404 clarification in the update, I'm even more skeptical of my YT/Snow Crash hypothesis. Oh well. Given that I'm now seeing Cody Wilson and Amir Taaki when I close my eyes, maybe it's time I stepped away from this for a while.

[S4VV4S]

Who is the troll that made the new TX?

Nevermind, the OP updated the bounty therefor it's real - for now.....

I disagree. blockchain shows it was relayed by ip 46.28.204.51, instead of directly through blockchain like the other transactions and it uses a different miner's fee.

The bounty has been updated here

[itod]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

[S4VV4S]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

Hi, and thanks for adding but I think you might be wrong....
First of all 51 char priv keys start with 5.
52 char prib keys start with K or L (believe me I found quite a few).

Last, I don't believe (personally) that we are looking for something like that, I think we are looking for a keyword or key-prhase that will reveal the priv key.
But that is just my opinion.

None the less, thanks for adding

[itod]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

Hi, and thanks for adding but I think you might be wrong....
First of all 51 char priv keys start with 5.
52 char prib keys start with K or L (believe me I found quite a few).

Last, I don't believe (personally) that we are looking for something like that, I think we are looking for a keyword or key-prhase that will reveal the priv key.
But that is just my opinion.

None the less, thanks for adding

No, i'm not wrong, see the link from Bitcoin wiki I've posted. Private key doesn't have to start in any particular way, I quote:

Range of valid private keys

Nearly every 256-bit number is a valid private key. Specifically, any 256-bit number between 0x1 and 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141 is a valid private key.

The range of valid private keys is governed by the secp256k1 ECDSA standard used by Bitcoin.

So, you can not know how private key may start, or how long it is, as long as it is smaller than 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141. Anyone who is looking for a '5', 'K', or 'L' as a start of a private key is doing it wrong.

[Prospero]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

Hi, and thanks for adding but I think you might be wrong....
First of all 51 char priv keys start with 5.
52 char prib keys start with K or L (believe me I found quite a few).

Last, I don't believe (personally) that we are looking for something like that, I think we are looking for a keyword or key-prhase that will reveal the priv key.
But that is just my opinion.

None the less, thanks for adding

nope, itod is right. a private key is just a number which can be represented in different encodings, WIF being only one of them.

[S4VV4S]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

Hi, and thanks for adding but I think you might be wrong....
First of all 51 char priv keys start with 5.
52 char prib keys start with K or L (believe me I found quite a few).

Last, I don't believe (personally) that we are looking for something like that, I think we are looking for a keyword or key-prhase that will reveal the priv key.
But that is just my opinion.

None the less, thanks for adding

nope, itod is right. a private key is just a number which can be represented in different encodings, WIF being only one of them.

For sure, but 51 char key starts with 5, 52 char key starts with K or L.
There are also 44 char keys and mini-keys but like i said I don't believe we are looking for that now

EDIT: don't get me wrong itod, it's just that I have a feeling the we are looking for a keyword.
Like I said thatnks for adding

[S4VV4S]

Anyways, guys and girls,
sorry I need to get some shut eye.
I am too tired and I got a headache....
And Alice isn't helping....... (hint, hint)

[itod]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

Hi, and thanks for adding but I think you might be wrong....
First of all 51 char priv keys start with 5.
52 char prib keys start with K or L (believe me I found quite a few).

Last, I don't believe (personally) that we are looking for something like that, I think we are looking for a keyword or key-prhase that will reveal the priv key.
But that is just my opinion.

None the less, thanks for adding

nope, itod is right. a private key is just a number which can be represented in different encodings, WIF being only one of them.

For sure, but 51 char key starts with 5, 52 char key starts with K or L.
There are also 44 char keys and mini-keys but like i said I don't believe we are looking for that now

I don't know why you believe what you believe, but I guarantee you private key is a number that can be any length (while being in range) and start with arbitrary digit (hex or decimal). You can still search only those starting with '5', but you will not solve the puzzle that way  

Other assumption is that we are looking for a keyphrase, like "correct horse battery staple". That is much more reasonable than one discussed above, but you have to keep in mind that is just one of the possibilities.

[sapta]

Just a question.. Is it possible to create a valid priv-key from collecting some random data?

e.g. "They can't attack what they DO not see" = ATHopJtLz2PrfTMYSBNh7KjXCPbCDqVrEX3mEgvWFed7PdyMjHCC9hdxX5v

SBNh7KjXCPbCDqVrEX3mEgvWFed7Pd = da5f36fc7254e811d8e4fe2f392d92cbafc9190c17fa3a13695717c93affc3b2

da5f36fc7254e811d8e4fe2f392d92cbafc9190c17fa3a13695717c93affc3b2 = 5KUTbinicuwmMzu3SmCHiPMLncR4eEGb25dt39C7hFTqr7WG9iZ

5KUTbinicuwmMzu3SmCHiPMLncR4eEGb25dt39C7hFTqr7WG9iZ = 1F4yU9ZgTUxA4egLbvihGzxSWfAXqBnnfj empty wallet.

 

[S4VV4S]

I have to underline one important thing: Almost all posters in this thread are operating under assumption that private key must be 52 characters long, starting with '5' and following by 51 characters. This is completely wrong. It's just a WIF representation of the private key, one of many formats private key can have. Essentially, private key is any integer starting from 1 and ending with 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141, see explanation here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key.

I believe this wrong assumption was started by incorrect naming of the textboxes on the brainwallet.org website, which name 'WIF representation' as 'Private Key', while the real private key is what they call 'Secret Exponent'. In ECDSA cryptographic sense that integer is just the number of times we dot-multiply Generator point with itself, and X and Y coordinate of the resulting point being our public key.

So, people, you are wasting time looking for a 52-character string starting with '5', you should be looking for a number.

Hi, and thanks for adding but I think you might be wrong....
First of all 51 char priv keys start with 5.
52 char prib keys start with K or L (believe me I found quite a few).

Last, I don't believe (personally) that we are looking for something like that, I think we are looking for a keyword or key-prhase that will reveal the priv key.
But that is just my opinion.

None the less, thanks for adding

nope, itod is right. a private key is just a number which can be represented in different encodings, WIF being only one of them.

For sure, but 51 char key starts with 5, 52 char key starts with K or L.
There are also 44 char keys and mini-keys but like i said I don't believe we are looking for that now

I don't know why you believe what you believe, but I guarantee you private key is a number that can be any length (while being in range) and start with arbitrary digit (hex or decimal). You can still search only those starting with '5', but you will not solve the puzzle that way  

Other assumption is that we are looking for a keyphrase, like "correct horse battery staple". That is much more reasonable than one discussed above, but you have to keep in mind that is just one of the possibilities.

I have found keys that start with: K, L, S and some of them 4 (I think).
I know what you are saying bro, and you are right.
None the less we could just be looking for a 12 word seed for dark wallet.
I am just saying that I think we should be looking for a keyword and outguess the key out of the image.
That's all

Anyways, gdnight to you and thank you for being part of the team.
You are a great asset

[itod]

Just a question.. Is it possible to create a valid priv-key from collecting some random data?

It is possible to generate private key out of any data, even out of unreadable binary blob. Private key is by common agreement just the result of sha256() function of that data.

[sapta]

Just a question.. Is it possible to create a valid priv-key from collecting some random data?

It is possible to generate private key out of any data, even out of unreadable binary blob. Private key is by common agreement just the result of sha256() function of that data.

Great, thanks. I'm learning right now.

[Este Nuno]

Just a question.. Is it possible to create a valid priv-key from collecting some random data?

It is possible to generate private key out of any data, even out of unreadable binary blob. Private key is by common agreement just the result of sha256() function of that data.

Great, thanks. I'm learning right now.

Me too. I wasn't aware of that. Interesting how much you can pick up from threads like these where everyone is just spilling their brains.

[zonkism]

At this point OP believes we have all the data we need to reach at least the next step.  Pretty sure we will not be receiving anymore clues for a while.  This damn puzzle has consumed my life now for several days.  I am seriously bummed that I am leaving on a cruise tomorrow for 7 days and will  probably miss the next steps.  Although I am now very very tempted to pay a stupid premium for internet access while on the boat.  Hell that is a first world problem if ever there was one.  It also appears the morse code is completely solved based on the OPs last update.  I think the next strategy is in looking at the remaining alpha numeric that are not part of the plaintext address.  I've been looking at all of the standard transpositions and nothing is clicking.  Possibly a base change.  I have converted everything to hex, decimal, reversed it, flipped the hex values, reassembled.. nothing.  Analysis of the remaining alpha numerics  show a pretty random distribution which is usually indicative of a cipher, meaning a plaintext transposition will not work due to the frequency of letters and numbers does not seem to match typical language pattern.

[Kangaderoo]

- embedded morse code: "They cannot attack what they DO not see," has been solved.

Why is there a comma? Am I going paranoid?

[w0lverine]

There sure is a lot of artifacts around the borders, what do you guys think? intentional or just jpeg compression?

also the concept of white comes up quite often:
-ytcoinartist. yt=white
-follow the rabbit down the white hole
-in the original image the borders of the image are dark and become whiter as we get to the center and the pyramid does look like it is falling in a white hole.

[itod]

There sure is a lot of artifacts around the borders, what do you guys think? intentional or just jpeg compression?

Probably jpeg compression.

When I reed "...what they do not see" the area of the picture behind the two portraits comes to mind. We can not see what's behind them. Maybe there is a need to reconstruct that background with visible data.

[redsn0w]

Any news?

[cryptozim]

Okay, after thinking more about this, maybe it is "STOP WORDS" in the message. Two definitions I found:

In computing, stop words are words which are filtered out prior to, or after, processing of natural language data (text).

Sometimes, some extremely common words which would appear to be of little value in helping select documents matching a user need are excluded from the vocabulary entirely.

So, maybe either the morse code is a red herring with no value to the overall decryption, or they are used to filter some other information in some way?