original image is here: http://imgur.com/Uc6VAnV
likely possible final goal
- private bitcoin key (51 characters, starts with 5, base 58)
- private bitcoin minikey (22 or 30 characters, starts with S, base 58)
- some kind of dark wallet id (see Krona Rev and shorena's posts on this)
puzzle notes
puzzle is 36 x 23
puzzle contains letters, and four colors of dots (red/green/yellow/blue)
single blue dot is column 6, row 12
triangle appears to point at the blue dot
color of cells and letters are tricky to discern so are probably not part of puzzle
plaintext public bitcoin address is in the puzzle: 1HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEra
the subjects of the drawing recently created dark wallet
the inverted eye in a triangle is the dark wallet logo
image file
nothing in EXIF data
picture posted to imgur so pixel-level steganography is unlikely
transactions (possible hints)
- public transactions are here: https://blockchain.info/address/1HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEra
- a couple coded messages with BTC values using simple ascii->binary encodings (SOCLOSE, ZZZ)
- a countdown from 23, skipping 3, 5, and 8.
- some other binary-like transactions that don't translate easily (possibly due to mining fees)
other
there were apparently some leading hints in OP's twitter with Alice references, but I haven't seen what specific info they contained
resources
zonkism posted our spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EPARfiJ-Fw140N8Jg5QTgJdp10GsgepcHD_-7DWPmKg/edit#gid=1931897256
csv of the puzzle (!=green @=red #=yellow $=blue):
Code:
!,@,!,@,s,!,7,@,@,@,@,o,v,@,@,!,Y,#,8,t,@,!,@,@,c,!,#,a,@,!,@,!,@,k,!,z
#,3,!,@,!,C,@,m,!,i,@,@,@,u,@,N,!,@,!,@,@,2,@,r,!,h,@,@,@,!,!,!,5,!,!,@
@,!,1,#,H,@,!,!,@,!,X,!,@,!,@,@,U,@,@,@,#,@,o,@,#,!,!,@,b,#,@,w,!,#,@,#
!,@,!,@,!,c,@,@,B,@,@,#,#,@,1,@,@,@,!,!,!,@,!,9,!,c,!,@,@,!,@,@,G,@,#,!
#,!,!,D,@,@,@,!,@,!,@,@,!,!,!,@,r,@,!,g,@,@,!,!,!,@,@,@,@,!,h,!,@,!,!,@
@,u,!,@,h,!,4,2,!,H,@,@,!,@,D,@,!,d,J,!,@,d,!,@,!,@,J,v,@,!,@,r,@,!,@,#
!,@,J,!,!,U,!,@,E,@,r,@,a,#,!,O,@,!,!,P,#,@,4,#,i,@,@,@,D,#,!,@,@,c,!,@
@,#,!,I,!,@,x,!,!,b,@,M,!,@,!,@,!,!,!,@,@,@,!,@,@,@,@,y,!,@,!,2,@,!,n,#
@,@,@,!,!,!,!,#,L,!,@,@,i, , ,@,@,!,!,@, , , , , ,#,@,@,3,!,#,@,#,1,@,!
n,@,!,@,#,!,m,!,!,@,@,@, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,!,t,!,!,@,!,@,!,@,H,@
@,@,d,!,!,@,@,@,@,!,@,@, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,@,@,!,E,!,!,!,h,@,@
i,!,@,@,!,$,!,!,!,!,r,@, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,#,L,!,!,@,@,b,@,@,#
@,w,b,5,!,@,@,@,@,y,@,#, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,!,@,u,@,f,e,@,!,!,@
@,@,!,!,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,@,!
!,@,!,@,!,@, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,@,@,!,!,@,!
raw ascii character string from puzzle
Code:
s7ovY8tcakz3CmiuN2rh51HXUobwcB19cGDrghuh42HDdJdJvrJUEraOP4iDcIxbMy2nLi31nmtHdEhirLbwb5yufe3TCSvjwoAUrk9FzRe7aeJ62YTo6ABDiFt
raw string representing the dots (0=green, 1=red, #=yellow, $=blue)
Code:
010101111110#10110#101010#010101111010111011100000110#1001001011111#11#001#10#1#010101111##11110001000110111#0#001110101100011011000111100100110100110110010101101101#01000111#0100#1#111#011011#00100101010001110111101010#1110000#01111001#110#1#10101#00011100010101111001111011110000110110$00001#001111#1011111#01110011100###111#11000011100111010#1000101110011110111010101111101#1011101#10#00001011010101#11#00001010001001#0011#1110110#1101010010101110010
decoding comments
- I am convinced that the blue dot is a major key or hint, and figuring out how to interpret it is vital to the next step.
- S4VV4s has been systematically exhaustively checking for private bitcoin addresses using brute force on interpretations of the dots and the character string, without success.
- shorena attempted to convert the dots into bit shifts to see what the math would yield, and that didn't get anywhere.
- shorena attempted to Caesar shift the characters and didn't find anything.
- shorena produced a bunch of shifted versions of the ascii string to check for keys and didn't find anything.
- I've checked all sequences that begin with 'S' to see if they are valid private minikeys and no dice (shorena checked one recently as well).
- I have pulled likely sequences out of the character string and checked to see if they are TOR addresses, and none of them have worked (that was a long shot since the puzzle is mixed case).
- I've taken some stabs at SHA hashing 80 bit sequences from the dots to get TOR addresses, which has also failed (non-exhaustive).
- I have been systematically brute forcing the dot bitstring to attempt to coax ASCII messages out of it, but haven't gotten anywhere.
- Braille does not fit the puzzle due to the number of columns. There have been assertions that morse code does not work, but I haven't attempted this myself.
ratholes (IMO)
- ignoring the blue dot.
- poetry conversions.
- using brute force on the current complete data set.
- using the imgur id as data.
- taking alice-related hints too seriously (possible exception: Alphabet Cipher)
possible intermediate goals for more clues
imgur id: 5 or 7 ascii characters
youtube id: 11 ascii characters
TOR address: 16 base32 characters
various types of cryptographic keys
)
