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 Bitcoin puzzle transaction. 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.

Then came the Phy Challenge in June 2026, and it's the opposite game. No range, no race. A whitepaper parody, a Base64 signature and a picture of grey emojis around a gold coin. The signature gives up the prize address, 800,000 sats. The key behind it is still nobody's. Took three days to build, and the cat still got a character out of it. Who's laughing now?

What the record says

Three facts, three posts by kTimesG. The announcement gives the rules and the one thing asked of the winner. The post after the claim gives the 39 minutes. The third is from the Phy thread, where the cat takes the blame for a missing J. Each fact is one or two sentences of what its post says. Winners and hints belong to the puzzles, so they live on the collection pages.

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. In 2026 put 800,000 sat behind a signed post and a spiral of emojis, the Phy Challenge.",
  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.", STEPS, { date: "2024-11-02" }),
    fact("Spent 3 days building and checking the Phy Challenge, then published its signature one character short. Blamed the cat.", CAT, { date: "2026-07-29" }),
  ],
});