kTimesG

Who this is

kTimesG is a BitcoinTalk handle. That's all the record knows, and it's enough. The account posts in the thread of the b1000 puzzle. Around this challenge it kept making one point: "It's literally just one addition (sub) and one multiplication in the EC group to switch between any internal subinterval and a sequential interval." That one came the day after, for someone still asking how.

The 80-bit challenge tested that point for real. 80 unknown bits hidden in a 511-bit number. A public key that existed only in a pending transaction. And 0.005 BTC for whoever could handle both fast enough.

It worked, sort of. The key fell, just slowly. kTimesG's post after the claim reads more disappointed than proud. The spend sat there 39 minutes before anyone replaced it.

What the record says

Two facts, two posts by kTimesG in the same thread. The announcement gives the rules and the one thing asked of the winner. The post after the claim gives the 39 minutes. Each fact is one or two sentences of what its post says. The winner's claim to the prize address is someone else's post, so it's on the collection page, not here.

The record

static readonly author = party("kTimesG", {
  key: "ktimesg",
  kind: PartyKind.Person,
  about: "Writes on BitcoinTalk about cracking Bitcoin keys. In 2024 offered 0.005 BTC to whoever cracked a key with 80 unknown bits before its transaction confirmed. Someone did, 39 minutes in.",
  profiles: [profile("bitcointalk", "https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3610370")],
  facts: [
    fact("Announced the 80-bit challenge two weeks early. Only asked the winner to say how they broke the key.", ANNOUNCEMENT, { date: "2024-10-16" }),
    fact("Was disappointed it took 39 minutes to replace the spend. With a real 80-bit puzzle, nobody gets 40.", RECAP, { date: "2024-11-02" }),
  ],
});