As a participant in The Legend of Satoshi Nakamoto from the very beginning in late summer of 2014, I'm absolutely thrilled that someone has finally solved this last piece of the ARG. I learned so much about cryptography and bitcoin during the solving--and made treasured puzzle friends in the process. What a wonderful experience!
So excited to read about the solve!
Congrats to the brilliant creators and solvers!
"As it turned out, the real prize of the TLSN puzzle was the friends we made along the way..."
Of course, I'm making a joke here, but I agree with RC 100%. It's bittersweet that the puzzle is finally over after nearly three and a half years. I sort of expected that it would go on for decades without being solved, like a Bitcoin version of the fourth Kryptos panel. But as the prize value skyrocketed along with the price of bitcoin, it was only a matter of time before someone made a breakthrough.
For me personally, the puzzle came along just when I began to seriously get involved in Bitcoin, and it served as a catalyst for me to connect with others in the community and learn as much as I could. I feel extremely fortunate that, as the puzzle progressed, I was invited to join a group of expert solvers who also happened to be wonderful people, and who became true friends.
It's disappointing that our team did not solve the puzzle. But at the risk of sounding trite, I can honestly say that if given a choice between the prize and the friendships that grew out of working on this puzzle together, without question, I would choose the friendships. For that reason, I want to offer my deep thanks to coin_artist and the rest of the puzzle team, not only for creating an engaging and historic experience, but for providing the venue that brought us together.