Get up to speed on the 310 Bitcoin ChallengeWhile completely fascinated with this, it’s distracting me from important real life priorities. I’m more or less obsessed with this puzzle. After examining many elements of it, I have to come to terms with the fact that I don’t have the educational background or experience to solve this. By the time I cracked it, it would have been done already.
I can only follow the bread crumbs of other much smarter ladies and gents than myself. Frankly, I must say I find it frustrating that Pip has created this to only be solved by those with a knowledge of computer science math, cryptographic curves, languages, the inner bones of the back end of BTC wallets, image/message encryption and other complex fields of study. It puts the majority of people at a great disadvantage.
The people who are knowledgeable in these things are the types of people who more than likely already have plenty of Bitcoin – likeminded to the creator. It seems to me that much of the ethos behind Bitcoin is distribution of a network and massive wealth transfer. Why not make these puzzles to have a chance of falling into the hands of every day people and broaden the scope of that network? Why not use this opportunity to further encourage adoption, rather than further scare people away? The BTC are just being moved around the same circles this way.
Well, it is what it is, and no amount of guilt tripping anyone is going to change anything, but I think it’s a valid question to consider. No one has to make these puzzles at all and they are free to construct them however they like. All I can do is what I can do. So I’ve systematically assembled bread crumbs. Will they lead us to a solitary place in the woods for the final answer?
Here is a collection someone is assembling of what’s been determined thus far:31- New Person Ramp Up
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nUAhlC_n21ZLZcRAHpLw9G--gpk4NUVIJqVp9F68qp4/preview This is from a group of people in discord allegedly “working together” to solve this beast (and other crypto puzzles).
Neon District Group:
https://discordapp.com/invite/Xp5Fr2 Go there and read the pinned messages in each channel – there are 3.
We also know:• Web address can be used to verify the signature using Electrum:
Message:
https://bitcoinchallenge.codes/BTC Address:
39uAUwEFDi5bBbdBm5ViD8sxDBBrz7SUP4
Signature:
H03LFItN9jUXus+nwJd9wriCvTxXki2WxiQ5v5qWXbMjW1gPzK6BGmr4wAm0xsT2Is0/Qv0rXg+OSnehP1e4TvA=
• Methods to extract the binary string and QR Code from the image:
XnView:
https://www.xnview.com/en/xnviewmp/ -Open the original image and go to >Image>Map>Normalize, then go to >Image>Extract Channel>Alpha
GIMP:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63ltk3OcTq8 Photoshop:
https://imgur.com/a/KBzcrkU SOLUTION TO THE WALLET WITH .1 BTC• The numbers grid can translate the hex codes. Oct 2 2018 as 20181002 is the key to the grid when you use it as the shift key for decoding. You get a new grid
Original GRID
511 B20 332 328 410 530
22B 0FE 52E D0F 7A1 65B
52C 7E7 511 2F6 56F C4B
New GRID
310 310 310 310 310 310
1AA 0FC 32D 5FF 78F 643
42C 5C7 490 2F4 36E 43B
Tool to convert hex numbers to decimals:
https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/hex-to-decimal.html And find the index for the seed words here:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt 426 cry
252 buyer
813 grain
1535 save
1935 vault
1603 sign
1068 lyrics
1479 rhythm
1168 music
756 fury
878 horror
1083 mansion
cry buyer grain save vault sign lyrics rhythm music fury horror mansion
When restoring the wallet using the mnemonic in Electrum check Options -> Bip39 seed
Being as the first line of the grid was all converted to 310, indicating the solver was heading in the right direction, someone else appears to be making further progress using the grid.
310 310 310 310 310 310
1C4 65F 38E 41C 018 70F
301 78C 2E9 53D 2C5 316
310 310 310 310 310 310
https://hastebin.com/onotopenes.cpp An interesting discussion on Discord:
pastet89
To be fair I am even not sure if the first line is garbage at all. Think about this: how about if there is a second shift key and when we put it on the same grid the other way around happens: the two middles lines are 310s and we get words seeds from the other lines? And that might be the seed for the 310 BTC. There is something symbolic in that 310. 310 challenge, 310 written on the corner and the hidden code was on line 310. I think that this or the red salted string contains the key to the wallet with 310 BTC. But they might contain the same info but need multiple keys to give multiple results.
Noah
I also think we will need multiple keys /longer bip39 string for the 310 BTC wallet.
Maybe that’s how he ensures linearity, every wallet is a bip39 string with the next 12 words added.
That’s also why he used the same line to generate the 310310310 line to indicate you need to concatenate the two results for the next one.
UPDATE:Solution to the 2nd wallet has been made public and is in the "Ramp Up" document above.
What do we know for certain?• The first wallet has found
• The 2nd wallet was found but no one knows who did it yet, not even Pip
• It’s futile to try to brute force the hash or access to the backend of the site – it’s been secured
• The solver of the 2nd wallet address has not contacted Pip and hasn’t been public with his knowledge.
• You don’t have to be registered to solve the puzzle, as the first winner was not. But both winners seem to be now as the site said 2 have been registered.
• There are 2, or more, binary strings. Only one has been solved.
• Before the challenge went public, Pip sent 310 BTC to the 0.31 wallet in batches of 10BTC, emptied it, then sent the 0.31 BTC.
• The 22 Characters in hand written in plain site (in no particular order): L503K7DF64C120E8A9D9F4
What do we know (or think we know) about Pip?:• He mined BTC early on as an early adopter
• He bought a large number of BTC fairly early on
• He received airdrops which he went through the trouble of converting to Bitcoin
• He has lots of Bitcoin
• He doesn’t want to share his identity – I don’t blame him
• Most, or a considerable percentage, of what he is giving away was received in airdrops
• He seems friendly. Other than the facts that he is willing to give hints if/when needed he sometimes responds to people and dropping subtle tips, he using phrases like, “have fun...”, “Good luck!”, “Don't be sad”, “please accept my apologies” (when he doesn’t owe anyone anything), and “...my friend”. “If you find the code, please get in touch with me. I would love to hear details about your approach!”
• His choice of words, grammar structure, and “tone” sounds American to me
• He is not artistic, saying, “creating the picture was the most difficult since I'm not an artist myself.” This makes me think the filters on the image are just that, photoshop filters, and mean nothing more. Unless perhaps, he had help putting this all together. But, the fact he says it was difficult sounds like he did it himself, because getting help would have made it easy for him.
• He doesn’t want to give to charity for his own reasons and doesn’t want to discuss it. (Which is fine – he owes none of us anything)
Quotes from Pip:• “Hints will come if I don't see progress.”
• “Don't expect to find it in just a few hours or days but if you do, you're very good!”
• “This is my first experiment and I did not design this thing with a particular time frame in mind. It could be solved in a matter of days; it might take months. I don't know.”
• “Over 10 people asked the same question: can I solve the riddle by printing it out on paper and looking for clues while on the bus. Let this be my first hint: Partly.”
• “Good morning all.
First of all I want to apologize for not answering all emails.
You guys were asking me about financial advice, money for startups or family, a head start by providing a good tip, or other strange questions. I could not even understand all of them. I can not help everyone, please accept my apologies! Someone was very very angry at me and blamed me for a lot of bad things that happened in the world. Sorry man, I can't save the world!
I can not answer all those emails personally, I'm sorry. I will try to answer those that deserve a reply as soon as possible.
Important updates:
- Last night the first successful registration happened. Many of you know what I'm talking about. If not: keep going!
- About 4.5 hours later the second wallet (0.2 BTC) was discovered. The funds moved to
bc1q75ezmkfj5am2tqvr3vl8h90ldtvn7ha6sx0t4n
I don't know who solved it, yet, but I will certainly reach out to the first (and only, for now) registered email address.
• From
https://bitcoinchallenge.codes/register-310/ :
“While it is possible to solve the riddle without registering, at this point I would love to hear from you! Why? I would love to know who wins this challenge.”
“Tell me. What is the SHA256 hash of the data you got so far? (SHA256 of all data on a single line.)
“Note: The form expects a sha256 hash in hex format and it is not case sensitive.”
• “People are posting hashes to the "hidden" page url. Let me tell you one thing: Don't bother posting there if you don't know how to access the 0.1 BTC. (You won't be able to provide the correct hash yet)… The form does not expect the hash of a private key. That I can tell you right now.
It already received over 20K hashes so far, from all over the world. It's just pointless trying to find a valid hash for it if you don't know how to access the 0.1 BTC. You can consider this as a small tip (and save yourself some valuable time).”
• “Maybe the 0.1 wallet is part of something bigger. Maybe it's not.”
• “This one I can tell you: there is no O (ooh) but only a 0 (zero) if there's something that looks like an O or 0.” (When someone asked about the Os on the image)
• “I downloaded the website template from a free template site.” (When someone noticed the sites identical theme to another)
• “At first I just loved the idea and I played along. Later I started to actually believe it would become accepted one day.” (When asked how he got into Bitcoin)
• “If you were scanning or trying to hack the site you might have been blocked. If not, please be patient. The site is under heavy load.”
How can we categorize the different parts which need solving?PHOTO MANIPULATION
• Uncovering the QR code and binary strings attached - The LSBs
• The original image itself and the filters applied
• Examining pixels, layers, color levels
• Other
COMPUTER LANGUAGE CONVERSION
• The hex grid on the bottom – denoted by the #16
• Salted String, etc
• Cryptographic curves
• Bezier curves?
PLAIN SIGHT
• Bitcoin logo, grid, and computer generated curves
• The hand written characters on the image.
• The original image itself
• Mnemonic seed phrase?
STEGANOGRAPHY
• Voronoi Diagrams?
• Software encryption?
EXTERNAL SOLUTIONS/CLUES
• Things to be found outside the image that clues in the image might lead us on a trail to
• Morse?
OTHER?
Possible clues/approaches. What might we ask? (Each trail may lead us to a red herring, but it may be a good idea to use the process of elimination and explore every possibility. I imagine some people will have been inches away from finding something before they turned to another direction):
• Pip calls himself Pip. What is this in reference to? (Pip can mean different things)
• He chose to launch this on Oct 2 – does it have any relevance other than for being used as a shift function to solve the 1st wallet.
• Do the filters applied to the photo (B&W, stained glass, graphic pencil, texture) matter? Or are they just filters applied to an image?
• Does the image choice of a forest mean anything?
• Are the curves Bezier curves?
• Is it a Voronoi diagram?
• Is it a mosaic puzzle?
• What does Pip mean by, “the data you got so far.” Is solving each piece progressive, dependent on 1 or all of the former solutions?
• Does morse code have anything to do with anything here?
• Is there a clue in these words themselves from the seed phrase of the first wallet? Notice: lyrics, rhythm, music, and fury, horror, mansion – may not be random.
• When he says it can be partly solved printed out and riding a bus, could this be the final step, as in you have to travel somewhere to claim it?
• Is there a file hidden in the image using encryption software? People have scanned the file and said no – but are they right?
• The 0.2 wallet seed phrase is the 0.1 phrase + goldfinch hex to pib39. So, possibly the 0.31 phrase is 0.1 + 0.2 + X.
Possible useful tools and articles:
• Former BTC puzzle solved using Bezier curves:
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@mmorsl/solution-of-the-bitcoin-crypto-puzzle-level-4-by-zden • What the heck are Bezier curves? https://vimeo.com/106757336
• Binary Converter
https://www.convertbinary.com/alphabet/ • Morse Code Translator
https://morsecode.scphillips.com/translator.html • Python command to convert binary strings into morse code
https://pypi.org/project/morse/ • Binary Code Image Converter
https://www.dcode.fr/binary-image • ASCII Converter
https://www.branah.com/ascii-converter • Steganography software
https://download.cnet.com/s/steganography/ • SHA hash generator
https://www.mytecbits.com/tools/cryptography/sha2generator• Tool to convert seed phrases to a private key:
https://iancoleman.io/bip39/• Tool to convert hex numbers to decimals:
https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/hex-to-decimal.html • Find the index for the seed words here:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt • Registration page on Pips site:
https://bitcoinchallenge.codes/register-310/• Article on mosaic puzzles:
https://airccj.org/CSCP/vol7/csit76703.pdf • Cornell Article on Voronoi Diagrams
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs100r/2007fa/lectures/100R-lec21.pdf • Other article on Voronoi
http://msn.iecs.fcu.edu.tw/~ccc/profile/publish/ij_paper2/IJ-664.pdf If I was helpful to whoever can solve this a tip of 1 or 2 BTC (or 10 – lol) would be immensely appreciated and go to a good cause!
BTC: 15cHc2GgAbKpRNHezPMeFJpfZ2G5dHMoPq
Pip – you can’t save the world, but you can certainly make some meaningful differences in your sphere of influence. Not saying give everything away. Multiply it and use your resources prudently for good. How about crypto education of the masses yet to adopt? It seems you are passionate about the subject. I have a project I’d love some help with.
[honestly don't think so 
] 
