Can you solve this 0.2 BTC puzzle?
A mysterious Bitcoin puzzle has Reddit users scratching their heads over 5 months after it was first posted on the popular discussion platform.
Posted on October 8th, 2020, the mysterious Bitcoin puzzle has left Reddit users scratching their heads. After the community spent months collaborating on solving the puzzle, no one seems to be any closer to solving it.
The initial instruction appears to be searching for the seed phrase to open a Bitcoin wallet containing 0.2 BTC (nearly $11,000 after Bitcoin’s meteoric rise over the last few months) with the words likely from the BIP39 wordlist, currently being used by most Bitcoin wallets supporting seed phrases.
Background on Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Not much is known about Nakamoto, but it’s believed to have been a pseudonym used by a person or persons operating in cryptography scene.
Initially, Bitcoin users would need an alphanumeric private key to access a digital wallet, from which they can send, receive and store the digital currency. Later, developers introduced the option to use a mnemonic seed phrase, usually consisting of 12 to 24 words, to access their wallets.
Background on the Puzzle
Not much is known about the puzzle in question. The picture associated with it was first posted on Reddit by u/stsh_n on October 8, 2020, with “Bitcoin puzzle (2000$)” as the title. In the picture the phrase “FIND THE SEED PHRASE IN THE THIS PICTURE” is clearly shown, hinting that those keen on solving the puzzle would need to uncover hidden words that could open a wallet containing the prize.
On the left of the picture, a public key is shown which currently has a balance of 0.2 BTC: 1KfZGvwZxsvSmemoCmEV75uqcNzYBHjkHZ. The wallet was created on May 5, 2020, a full 5 months before the puzzle was first posted with 0.2 BTC being received by the wallet, remaining untouched since.
Discoveries thus far
The first words discovered were “Moon” and “Tower” on the clock’s dials in the bottom left. Then users spotted the word “Food” hidden on the image of the Seattle space needle, followed by the word “Breathe” found not only on the neck of the statue on the right, but also on the chest of an illustration of George Floyd. ‘Breathe’ however isn’t a word found on the BIP39 word list, leading some to suspect it is a hint for another word such as “Air.”
Beside the wallet address on the left of the picture, the phrase “PAY FOR THE FUTURE. THIS IS THE FIRST PREDICTION.” is shown, some suggested instead of focusing on the first sentence, to instead look at the first word of the second sentence “This” as the initial instruction of the puzzle “FIND THE SEED PHRASE IN THE THIS PICTURE” seems to have “This” inserted as a purposeful grammatical error. Furthermore, the phrase “FUCK THIS SHIT” on the statue to the right, also features the word “This.” The word “Subject” was also considered as it was underlined in the text on the statue, behind the phrase “FUCK THIS SHIT.”
Further sleuthing, and using Forensically’s Noise Analysis Tool lead users to discover that the base of the Statue of Liberty features “Only Bitcoin” hidden away right under the clearly visible phrase “ONLY REAL BITCOIN,” the lack of the word “Real” in the hidden sentence lead some to believe “Real” is another seed word.
Then came the tricky part, that had many users frustrated. The runes (symbols) found the the top left, bottom left, and right side of the picture. The runes above the illustration of Donald Trump, were found to be in Bill’s Cipher, an cipher language from the animated series Gravity Falls. It spelled out “Tuesday,” which also does not feature in the BIP39 word list, many suspecting it to just refer to the day the US Elections fell on, and to misdirect users into expecting the rest of the runes to form a part of the same cipher.
This was not the case. Using a Masonic Cipher on the seal beside the clock, inspired by the Illuminati and Great Seal, Reddit users were able to decipher the word “RUSSIA” highlighted on the seal. Many suspected it referring to supposed election interference, instead some realized the it may suggest the Runes were in fact in Russian and not English.
The first rune, to the top left, turned out to be “Я надеюсь что сюда будут присылать много биткоинов” which roughly translates to “I hope that many bitcoins will be sent here.” The second rune, to the bottom left, turned out to be “Сумма двух чисел” which roughly translates to “Sum of two numbers.” The third, long rune to the right, turned out to be “Здесь зашифрованы биткоины на чёрный день номер X” which roughly translates to “Here are encrypted bitcoins for a rainy day number X.”
Some speculation suggests each rune hints at another seed word, the first likely being “Address,” as an address is where coins are sent. The second being “Add” or “Total” as this would refer to the sum or total of two numbers. The third being “Ten,” as X is the Roman numeral for the number ten. None of this could be confirmed.
Users were able to translate the Latin at the bottom of the left as referring to “The Pot Calling The Kettle Black” leading some to speculate that the word “Black” could possibly be another seed word, with the Black Lives Matter movement being a recurring theme in the picture.
List of possible words thus far
- Moon
- Tower
- Food
- This
- Real
- Subject
- Address
- Add or Total
- Ten
- Black
Conclusion
Some frustrated users have started to wonder whether or not the puzzle is just a prank or move by the creator to get users to send Bitcoin to the address, hoping they would send more back. However, since some of the elements of the puzzle clearly show that it took some time to plan and create, it is more likely more elements are hidden inside the puzzle, including hints at the right order in which the seed words would be entered.
So, can you solve this 0.2 BTC puzzle?
Like what you read? Consider donating to keep the content coming:
BTC:3LWuP3hA2vRxBBEDSLscFKs4WSYC7RBppm