Author

Topic: Bitcoin puzzle transaction ~32 BTC prize to who solves it - page 335. (Read 228451 times)

copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1528
No I dont escrow anymore.
I made some research and I believe that the numbers are results of a polynomial (ring) function.

It also seems that someone already got into this in February 2015. Probably the guy who cashed out the first addresses.
http://pastebin.com/erN0F1ce

Quote
-673909/1307674368000*x^15 + 5004253/87178291200*x^14 - 151337/52254720*x^13 + 9320029/106444800*x^12 - 25409989753/14370048000*x^11 + 2192506957/87091200*x^10 - 19011117413/73156608*x^9 + 1200887962891/609638400*x^8 - 3585932821063/326592000*x^7 + 647416874047/14515200*x^6 - 18586394742863/143700480*x^5 + 30899291755337/119750400*x^4 - 274137631043849/825552000*x^3 + 36933161067083/151351200*x^2 - 87781079/1155*x

If you put for x the values 0 to 15, you will get exactly the first 16 numbers.

Quote
1
3
7
8
21
49
76
224
467
514
1155
2683
5216
10544
26867
51510

When you put x = 17 then you got -1514935. This is probably because the formula is not complete. There is x^16 to x^256 missing.
The callange is to find out what formula generates the -673909/1307674368000, 5004253/87178291200,... values.

Very nice finding tyz, this gives us some hope that this puzzle will still be solved during our lifetime  Cheesy

Yes the problem are those divisions like -673909/1307674368000, not sure whats the formula behind this, will have a look on it.

Sounds like overfitting to me. Its easy to find a function with x+1 terms to match x points exactly. 2 points define a line (a*x1+b*x0), 3 points define a function of leading coefficient x2, etc.
member
Activity: 169
Merit: 25
I made some research and I believe that the numbers are results of a polynomial (ring) function.

It also seems that someone already got into this in February 2015. Probably the guy who cashed out the first addresses.
http://pastebin.com/erN0F1ce

Quote
-673909/1307674368000*x^15 + 5004253/87178291200*x^14 - 151337/52254720*x^13 + 9320029/106444800*x^12 - 25409989753/14370048000*x^11 + 2192506957/87091200*x^10 - 19011117413/73156608*x^9 + 1200887962891/609638400*x^8 - 3585932821063/326592000*x^7 + 647416874047/14515200*x^6 - 18586394742863/143700480*x^5 + 30899291755337/119750400*x^4 - 274137631043849/825552000*x^3 + 36933161067083/151351200*x^2 - 87781079/1155*x

If you put for x the values 0 to 15, you will get exactly the first 16 numbers.

Quote
1
3
7
8
21
49
76
224
467
514
1155
2683
5216
10544
26867
51510

When you put x = 17 then you got -1514935. This is probably because the formula is not complete. There is x^16 to x^256 missing.
The callange is to find out what formula generates the -673909/1307674368000, 5004253/87178291200,... values.

Very nice finding tyz, this gives us some hope that this puzzle will still be solved during our lifetime  Cheesy

Yes the problem are those divisions like -673909/1307674368000, not sure whats the formula behind this, will have a look on it.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
What do you mean? The explanation of my finding or something else here on the thread?

Good luck with this, cause i havn't got a baldy what the heck yous are talking about.    Huh
He is just bumping his post count for his paid signature.  He did not read a single posting in the thread. Ignore him.
tyz
legendary
Activity: 3360
Merit: 1533
What do you mean? The explanation of my finding or something else here on the thread?

Good luck with this, cause i havn't got a baldy what the heck yous are talking about.    Huh
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
So there is hope of finding a mathematical solution!  Great find.

Adjust parameters until you match the first 50 claimed private keys then start adjusting parameters until you start finding more keys.

I wish I had time to do this.

Maybe when I finish paying off all my legal fees and retire Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 423
Merit: 250
I made some research and I believe that the numbers are results of a polynomial (ring) function.

It also seems that someone already got into this in February 2015. Probably the guy who cashed out the first addresses.
http://pastebin.com/erN0F1ce

Quote
-673909/1307674368000*x^15 + 5004253/87178291200*x^14 - 151337/52254720*x^13 + 9320029/106444800*x^12 - 25409989753/14370048000*x^11 + 2192506957/87091200*x^10 - 19011117413/73156608*x^9 + 1200887962891/609638400*x^8 - 3585932821063/326592000*x^7 + 647416874047/14515200*x^6 - 18586394742863/143700480*x^5 + 30899291755337/119750400*x^4 - 274137631043849/825552000*x^3 + 36933161067083/151351200*x^2 - 87781079/1155*x

If you put for x the values 0 to 15, you will get exactly the first 16 numbers.

Quote
1
3
7
8
21
49
76
224
467
514
1155
2683
5216
10544
26867
51510

When you put x = 17 then you got -1514935. This is probably because the formula is not complete. There is x^16 to x^256 missing.
The callange is to find out what formula generates the -673909/1307674368000, 5004253/87178291200,... values.


Nice finding, so it is puzzle afterall and not just bruteforcing the x random bits. It also explain why the adresses are redeemed in bundles at the same time...
hero member
Activity: 1106
Merit: 521
Good luck with this, cause i havn't got a baldy what the heck yous are talking about.    Huh
tyz
legendary
Activity: 3360
Merit: 1533
I made some research and I believe that the numbers are results of a polynomial (ring) function.

It also seems that someone already got into this in February 2015. Probably the guy who cashed out the first addresses.
http://pastebin.com/erN0F1ce

Quote
-673909/1307674368000*x^15 + 5004253/87178291200*x^14 - 151337/52254720*x^13 + 9320029/106444800*x^12 - 25409989753/14370048000*x^11 + 2192506957/87091200*x^10 - 19011117413/73156608*x^9 + 1200887962891/609638400*x^8 - 3585932821063/326592000*x^7 + 647416874047/14515200*x^6 - 18586394742863/143700480*x^5 + 30899291755337/119750400*x^4 - 274137631043849/825552000*x^3 + 36933161067083/151351200*x^2 - 87781079/1155*x

If you put for x the values 0 to 15, you will get exactly the first 16 numbers.

Quote
1
3
7
8
21
49
76
224
467
514
1155
2683
5216
10544
26867
51510

When you put x = 17 then you got -1514935. This is probably because the formula is not complete. There is x^16 to x^256 missing.
The callange is to find out what formula generates the -673909/1307674368000, 5004253/87178291200,... values.
member
Activity: 169
Merit: 25
I am comfortable in my use of "never" since it is based on the most fundamental laws of thermodynamics.

At any rate if a computer ever does simply count from 1 to 2256 look dig me up so you can tell me "I told you so".

We all will be long gone when that happens to tell you "I told you so"  Cheesy

About the puzzle, the final verdict is that it is unsolvable without brute force, same opinion all?
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
I am comfortable in my use of "never" since it is based on the most fundamental laws of thermodynamics.

At any rate if a computer ever does simply count from 1 to 2256 look dig me up so you can tell me "I told you so".
member
Activity: 169
Merit: 25
legendary
Activity: 3248
Merit: 1070
With regards to the future, we never know what will be possible tomorrow.

Not exactly true.  With respect to brute forcing a private key we know it will never be possible because we can calculate how much energy it would take for a theoretical best possible computer from a thermodynamics point of view to do the task of just counting from 1 to 2160 or 2256.

Since any possible actual computer will be less efficient than the best possible computer we know it will take any possible actual computer more energy than the theoretical machine - which is already too much energy.

Carefully reread the description next to the picture of the sun that is posted every single time this question is posed.

In your previous thread it was posted here:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.13377953

mmh, "never" is a strong statement, you can't be sure about a very distant future. 1-10 thousand years or more, maybe the laws that we know today will be reviewed, because new things will be discovered in the unknown universe

even satoshi said that if something will broke sha256 in the future, it will be a completely new thing, not imaginable today
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
So a version 1 bitcoin address has a security level of 2160, but how to make sure you have a security of 2256? From when on was the version 1 bitcoin address abandoned and we are sure to enjoy increased security?

Maybe I'm understanding this wrong and everybody is using version 1 addresses, but I would rather know for sure I'm using the safest keys possible.

Even though the security of Bitcoin is reduced to "only" 2160 by the selected second hashing algorithm it is actually more secure in other ways due to the selection of two different hashing algorithms in the public key to Bitcoin address step since both algorithms need to be broken in order to break that step.

Every step of the way everything possible was done to ensure that Bitcoin was secure.  For example Bitcoin is one of the only systems in existence that uses the secp256k1 curve instead of the secp256r1 curve that is used by almost everyone else.  But this was a very wise decision in light of recent leaks about the NSA and their underhanded practices with respect to the cryptography they produce or help produce.

secp256r1 was designed by the NSA, secp256k1 was not.
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
With regards to the future, we never know what will be possible tomorrow.

Not exactly true.  With respect to brute forcing a private key we know it will never be possible because we can calculate how much energy it would take for a theoretical best possible computer from a thermodynamics point of view to do the task of just counting from 1 to 2160 or 2256.

Since any possible actual computer will be less efficient than the best possible computer we know it will take any possible actual computer more energy than the theoretical machine - which is already too much energy.

Carefully reread the description next to the picture of the sun that is posted every single time this question is posed.

In your previous thread it was posted here:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.13377953
legendary
Activity: 2646
Merit: 1137
All paid signature campaigns should be banned.
After some analysis I believe the underlying sequence is probably random.  It may have been a PRNG instead of a RNG but that would not help us much.  It would be great if we had all 50 actual values to work with.

Code:
 BTC   Actual      Range of Values                        Location
Value  Value       Low                    High            in Range
-----  ----------  -------------------------------------  ---------
0.001  1           0                      1               100.0000%
0.002  3           2                      3               100.0000%
0.003  7           4                      7               100.0000%
0.004  8           8                      15                0.0000%
0.005  21          16                     31               33.3333%
0.006  49          32                     63               54.8387%
0.007  76          64                     127              19.0476%
0.008  224         128                    255              75.5906%
0.009  467         256                    511              82.7451%
0.010  514         512                    1,023             0.3914%
0.011  1,155       1,024                  2,047            12.8055%
0.012  2,683       2,048                  4,095            31.0210%
0.013  5,216       4,096                  8,191            27.3504%
0.014  10,544      8,192                  16,383           28.7144%
0.015  26,867      16,384                 32,767           63.9871%
0.016  51,510      32,768                 65,535           57.1978%
0.017  95,823      65,536                 131,071          46.2150%
0.018  198,669     131,072                262,143          51.5728%
0.019  357,535     262,144                524,287          36.3889%
0.020  863,317     524,288                1,048,575        64.6648%
0.021  1,811,764   1,048,576              2,097,151        72.7833%
0.022  3,007,503   2,097,152              4,194,303        43.4089%
0.023  5,598,802   4,194,304              8,388,607        33.4858%
0.024  14,428,676  8,388,608              16,777,215       72.0032%
0.025              16,777,216             33,554,431
0.026              33,554,432             67,108,863
0.027              67,108,864             134,217,727
0.028              134,217,728            268,435,455
0.029              268,435,456            536,870,911
0.030              536,870,912            1,073,741,823
0.031              1,073,741,824          2,147,483,647
0.032              2,147,483,648          4,294,967,295
0.033              4,294,967,296          8,589,934,591
0.034              8,589,934,592          17,179,869,183
0.035              17,179,869,184         34,359,738,367
0.036              34,359,738,368         68,719,476,735
0.037              68,719,476,736         137,438,953,471
0.038              137,438,953,472        274,877,906,943
0.039              274,877,906,944        549,755,813,887
0.040              549,755,813,888        1,099,511,627,775
0.041              1,099,511,627,776      2,199,023,255,551
0.042              2,199,023,255,552      4,398,046,511,103
0.043              4,398,046,511,104      8,796,093,022,207
0.044              8,796,093,022,208      17,592,186,044,415
0.045              17,592,186,044,416     35,184,372,088,831
0.046              35,184,372,088,832     70,368,744,177,663
0.047              70,368,744,177,664     140,737,488,355,327
0.048              140,737,488,355,328    281,474,976,710,655
0.049              281,474,976,710,656    562,949,953,421,311
0.050              562,949,953,421,312    1,125,899,906,842,620
0.051              1,125,899,906,842,620  2,251,799,813,685,250
0.052              2,251,799,813,685,250  4,503,599,627,370,490
member
Activity: 169
Merit: 25
-snip-

It will not, however, ever be possible to brute-force attempt 2256 possibilities.

-snip-

2^256   115792089237316000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000   <- And this is how safe bitcoin is.

Nope.

That's how secure an ECDSA public key is, but version 1 bitcoin addresses use a 160 bit hash of that public key, so the security is reduced to 2160.

Effectively yes.

My analogy was based on the fact that there are 2^256 private keys.

With regards to the future, we never know what will be possible tomorrow.

I believe somehow there will be some kind of evolution in computation that will make all the current encryption algorithms useless, but surely not during our life time.

I know its hard to believe, but if back in 1700 you'd tell Isaac Newton that one day mankind would have something called computers at home doing millions of instructions per second using his formulas, it would also be hard to believe.
legendary
Activity: 1946
Merit: 1007
- snip -
it may take decades and decades or centuries but eventually it will be possible to crack 2^256 pvks.
- snip -

It's impossible to say whether or not any future mathematicians will be able to discover any weaknesses in the ECDSA algorithm with the secp256k1 curve.

It will not, however, ever be possible to brute-force attempt 2256 possibilities.

2^160   1461501637330900000000000000000000000000000000000

2160 is the security level of version 1 bitcoin addresses.

2^256   115792089237316000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000   <- And this is how safe bitcoin is.

Nope.

That's how secure an ECDSA public key is, but version 1 bitcoin addresses use a 160 bit hash of that public key, so the security is reduced to 2160.

So a version 1 bitcoin address has a security level of 2160, but how to make sure you have a security of 2256? From when on was the version 1 bitcoin address abandoned and we are sure to enjoy increased security?

Maybe I'm understanding this wrong and everybody is using version 1 addresses, but I would rather know for sure I'm using the safest keys possible.
hero member
Activity: 1022
Merit: 538
Any info on who published this puzzle and what's their goal? Also, how would one go on about calculating those pvk decimal values and covert them to the private keys?

I don't know why but I'm smelling a big scam. Because a newbie that offer more than 12 000€ to solve a following of numbers this is strange...

The OP is not offering anything

Why would anyone pay such a high amount for this? They must have some kind of goal behind it, no one just does that for no reason.
Of course the OP is not offering anything. Why would he? He probably doesn't even know what to do with it when someone cracks it. I don't either.
This will take a very long time to crack, thats probably the reason why the reward is so high.

legendary
Activity: 3472
Merit: 4801
- snip -
it may take decades and decades or centuries but eventually it will be possible to crack 2^256 pvks.
- snip -

It's impossible to say whether or not any future mathematicians will be able to discover any weaknesses in the ECDSA algorithm with the secp256k1 curve.

It will not, however, ever be possible to brute-force attempt 2256 possibilities.

2^160   1461501637330900000000000000000000000000000000000

2160 is the security level of version 1 bitcoin addresses.

2^256   115792089237316000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000   <- And this is how safe bitcoin is.

Nope.

That's how secure an ECDSA public key is, but version 1 bitcoin addresses use a 160 bit hash of that public key, so the security is reduced to 2160.
hero member
Activity: 1106
Merit: 521
All of this story tell us something.


(in a worst case scenario, also assuming that the one who cracked the 50 addresses brute forced all the possible addresses sequential)

As time goes by this capability will increase, it may take decades and decades or centuries but eventually it will be possible to crack 2^256 pvks


are you serious it may take decades?  seriously  and the way technology is improving you think that in decades from now we will be relaying on tech from 2009.  wise up if the 20 years the tech to break bitcoin has improved so will the tech to have improved bitcoin security.

Like antonantonopolus says the inventioin is out of the box, it cant be put back in. "worst case senario bitcoin breaks and tomorrow we start a new crypto with all the failures of bitcoiin sorted"..... YES  Grin and yes those who new about crypto get in at the bottom......... Grin
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