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7 million book quiz

AoiNakamoto's second quiz, seven answers hashed into BIP39 entropy, four of them opinions and a sixty minute deadline. The prize went home and the answer key came out afterwards

The birthday quiz fell in five hours, so the next day AoiNakamoto ran it again with a stopwatch. Same 7,000,000 satoshis, same recipe, new venue: r/YangForPresidentHQ, seven questions about a campaign book, sixty minutes from the moment the questions went up. Miss the deadline and the money goes home. The money went home.

load
getCollection("book_quiz")
author
AoiNakamoto/authors/aoi-nakamoto
puzzles
1 · 1 expired
prize recorded
0.07 BTC
still unsolved
-
known material
1 public keys · 1 private keys
bitcoinstarted 2019-04-06 open book_quiz in the playground

How the book quiz works

Seven questions, four of them opinions

The recipe is the one from the day before: paste the correct answer sentences together with one space between them, SHA-256 that, feed the hex to a brain wallet tool as entropy, and the prize sits at the first address of the wallet that comes out.

The questions are where it goes sideways. Three of them you can actually know if you read the book: who killed the 1971 basic income bill, how the book pays for the income, what it says about the Green New Deal. The other four are the author's taste, and the post says so out loud before the questions start, "the correct answer will just be whatever I personally feel is the best". Question 7 asks for a better title for the book and wants "Challenge Fucking Accepted.", which you only land on if you notice that word sitting in the post's own title.

The book is never named. "Which book? You know already, if you are reading this." Universal basic income, a value added tax, Humanity First, robots taking the jobs, and one of the wrong titles is "Normal Strikes Back": it is Andrew Yang's The War on Normal People. The record keeps the thread and leaves that identification here, on a page you can argue with.

An hour was never enough

With four subjective questions in a set of seven, the honest strategy is brute force, and the author more or less conceded that in the post-mortem: two pure luck questions once you spot the hints, which "still leaves many possible combinations". Nobody got there in time.

The chain has the timing. Funded at 02:58:10 UTC on April 6, 2019, emptied at 04:53:28 by the author, one hour and fifty-five minutes later. Someone did crack it afterwards, posted the seven sentences, and got back a "Yes, those are the answers I chose" and an apology for the format. Second experiment, second lesson, and the author wrote both down.

What the book quiz record carries

Expired, with the answer key on the hint

src/collections/book_quiz.ts
export const bookQuizPuzzle = bitcoinPuzzle({
  id: "book_quiz",
  address: p2pkh("1PLa3c2xjtoP6YE1FvaLhsf4akSxvdv3Ta", "f5064148351fc664b483e20a58b0742312c0e03d"),
  sourceUrl: THREAD,
  startedAt: "2019-04-06 02:58:10",
  status: Status.Expired,
  pubkey: compressed("02c879abfb2a6b24940ded09bbf421ace2f328a012244960a9d8ef407d73f3d7b4"),
  key: seed("have piano caution aim ... brother job", "m/44'/0'/0'/0/0").entropy(
    "69b4809282a49a05138839a04aa87c7f20545ff060fc0c2a11e8b0e4cfda873b",
    source(THREAD, "SHA-256 of the seven answer sentences, joined by single spaces"),
  ),
  prize: 0.07,
  transactions: [funding(/* … */), decrease(/* … */)],
});

expired is the status for a prize the author took back, the same one the two unclaimed WarpWallet challenges carry. The spend is a decrease, an author withdrawal, not a claim, because nobody collected anything: 0.06978813 BTC to the author's own P2SH address, 21,187 satoshis to the miner.

The six hints are AoiNakamoto talking, in the order the post reads: the rules, the warning that some answers are opinions, the deadline, the flat refusal to explain any further, the update that the money was gone, and the post-mortem on which questions were unfair. The answer key hangs off the first hint as its answer, because that is where it was published, and that hint's confirmation points at the Wayback capture. A hint records who said what. It never says whether they were right.

Where the address comes from

The post has no address, the comments do

The post itself never prints an address or a txid, same as the birthday quiz. The thread does: after the deadline, the commenter who finally cracked it pasted the seven sentences and a block explorer link to 1PLa3c2xjtoP6YE1FvaLhsf4akSxvdv3Ta, and the author replied confirming the answers. Run the recipe yourself, hash the sentences, paste the hex into a BIP39 tool, read the first address at m/44'/0'/0'/0/0, and you land on the same string.

The chain agrees without being asked: 7,000,000 satoshis in and out again inside two hours on the right day, one funding and one spend, and that spend exposes the public key whose hash160 is the one on the record. Better still, the funding came out of 1B3X6xQxSGQYkE4JMR1BwbZ4S5J99SWd2V, the change address of the transaction that funded the birthday quiz the day before. Same wallet, same author, two quizzes one afternoon apart.

Reddit rots, so the post, all three updates and every comment live in the repo as an archived reading copy with a screenshot and the 2023 Wayback capture it was checked against. Six of the ten commenters already show as [deleted] in that capture, the solver among them, which is the whole reason the copy exists.

A singleton id, no name segment

book_quiz is the whole identifier, like gsmg, bitaps, mineshop, movie_enigma and satoshi_birthday_quiz. One puzzle, one key, no slash.

The book quiz record

book_quiz expired bitcoin 7 million book quiz
prize
0.07 BTC
key material
seed
public key
compressed · 02c879abfb…73f3d7b4
started
2019-04-06
solved
unknown
verification
key derives the address

address · p2pkh

1PLa3c2xjtoP6YE1FvaLhsf4akSxvdv3Ta blockstream.info

hash160 f5064148351fc664b483e20a58b0742312c0e03d

balance

asking the explorer

key material · on the record

seed phrase
have piano caution aim endless action evolve already park fetch business wrestle aim copper screen buzz around explain kick gift erupt unhappy brother job
derivation path
m/44'/0'/0'/0/0
entropy hash
69b4809282a49a05138839a04aa87c7f20545ff060fc0c2a11e8b0e4cfda873b
entropy source
SHA-256 of the seven answer sentences, joined by single spaces

transactions · 2

  1. funding2019-04-060.07 BTC
  2. decrease2019-04-060.06978813 BTC

hints · 6 · who said it, where, and what confirms that

source

open in the playground
https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/

toolpuzzles_show

what a model reads · MCP · Pi · OMP

book_quiz	expired	0.07 BTC	1PLa3c2xjtoP6YE1FvaLhsf4akSxvdv3Ta
chain: bitcoin  address kind: p2pkh
hash160: f5064148351fc664b483e20a58b0742312c0e03d
public key: 02c879abfb2a6b24940ded09bbf421ace2f328a012244960a9d8ef407d73f3d7b4 (compressed)
private key: have piano caution aim endless action evolve already park fetch business wrestle aim copper screen buzz around explain kick gift erupt unhappy brother job (seed phrase)
derivation path: m/44'/0'/0'/0/0
entropy: 69b4809282a49a05138839a04aa87c7f20545ff060fc0c2a11e8b0e4cfda873b from https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/ (SHA-256 of the seven answer sentences, joined by single spaces)
started: 2019-04-06 02:58:10
transactions: 2
	funding	2019-04-06 02:58:10	0.07 BTC	9777359a8bdeb17691a35e80dc6ed549c736bbe82a236f7ceaeb2567f3737fb2
	decrease	2019-04-06 04:53:28	0.06978813 BTC	48d8205e4a86bcf0d5299b3114ef881ad4f245436b08e6edb8c9f00d72bf4874
hints: 6
	official	-	To claim the funds, paste together all correct answers (omitting the leading a) b) etc) with exactly one space between characters. Take a SHA 256 hash of that, then feed it as entropy in a brain wallet generating tool. This will show you the address I sent 7 million satoshis to as well as the private key needed to sweep it.	source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/	confirmation: https://web.archive.org/web/20230611183532/https://old.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/ (Wayback capture of the thread, post and comments)	answer: He is unable to predict what happens after the superintelligence explosion. American policy needs to think of all of humanity first, not only American citizens. What discussion? The book ignores the Green New Deal. The Democrats in the Senate blocked the legislation. Introducing a value added tax, shifting taxation from income to spending. Buy the book in bulk and distribute to friends, to help with the bestseller ranking and with spreading the message. Challenge Fucking Accepted.	answer source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
	official	-	I give 7 multiple choice questions, some of which are factual questions about the book and some of which will require voicing an opinion. The latter category will have no objective correct answer; the correct answer will just be whatever I personally feel is the best.	source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
	official	-	If someone finds the private key and sweeps the address in less than 60 minutes after I post the questions, we have a winner. Else I take back the funds. Either way I explain what I designated as the correct answers.	source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
	official	-	I will not explain more about the format and how to sweep the funds after you found the correct answer beyond what I said above in this original post. Navigating this is part of the challenge.	source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
	official	-	I have claimed the funds back just now. Failed to get a winner this time, sorry.	source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
	official	-	Questions 1 and 2 were without objective answer. Questions 3 to 5 were easy for anyone who read the book. Question 6 was without objective answer. As was question 7, but that one was easier.	source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
explorer: https://blockstream.info/address/1PLa3c2xjtoP6YE1FvaLhsf4akSxvdv3Ta
source: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/
puzzle.toJSON() absent fields are absent, never null
{
  "id": "book_quiz",
  "chain": "bitcoin",
  "address": {
    "value": "1PLa3c2xjtoP6YE1FvaLhsf4akSxvdv3Ta",
    "kind": "p2pkh",
    "hash160": "f5064148351fc664b483e20a58b0742312c0e03d"
  },
  "status": "expired",
  "pubkey": {
    "value": "02c879abfb2a6b24940ded09bbf421ace2f328a012244960a9d8ef407d73f3d7b4",
    "format": "compressed"
  },
  "key": {
    "seed": {
      "phrase": "have piano caution aim endless action evolve already park fetch business wrestle aim copper screen buzz around explain kick gift erupt unhappy brother job",
      "path": "m/44'/0'/0'/0/0",
      "entropy": {
        "hash": "69b4809282a49a05138839a04aa87c7f20545ff060fc0c2a11e8b0e4cfda873b",
        "source": {
          "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/",
          "description": "SHA-256 of the seven answer sentences, joined by single spaces"
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "prize": 0.07,
  "start_date": "2019-04-06 02:58:10",
  "source_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/",
  "transactions": [
    {
      "tx_type": "funding",
      "txid": "9777359a8bdeb17691a35e80dc6ed549c736bbe82a236f7ceaeb2567f3737fb2",
      "date": "2019-04-06 02:58:10",
      "amount": 0.07
    },
    {
      "tx_type": "decrease",
      "txid": "48d8205e4a86bcf0d5299b3114ef881ad4f245436b08e6edb8c9f00d72bf4874",
      "date": "2019-04-06 04:53:28",
      "amount": 0.06978813
    }
  ],
  "hints": [
    {
      "kind": "official",
      "text": "To claim the funds, paste together all correct answers (omitting the leading a) b) etc) with exactly one space between characters. Take a SHA 256 hash of that, then feed it as entropy in a brain wallet generating tool. This will show you the address I sent 7 million satoshis to as well as the private key needed to sweep it.",
      "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/",
      "confirmation": {
        "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230611183532/https://old.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/",
        "description": "Wayback capture of the thread, post and comments"
      },
      "answer": {
        "text": "He is unable to predict what happens after the superintelligence explosion. American policy needs to think of all of humanity first, not only American citizens. What discussion? The book ignores the Green New Deal. The Democrats in the Senate blocked the legislation. Introducing a value added tax, shifting taxation from income to spending. Buy the book in bulk and distribute to friends, to help with the bestseller ranking and with spreading the message. Challenge Fucking Accepted.",
        "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/"
      }
    },
    {
      "kind": "official",
      "text": "I give 7 multiple choice questions, some of which are factual questions about the book and some of which will require voicing an opinion. The latter category will have no objective correct answer; the correct answer will just be whatever I personally feel is the best.",
      "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/"
    },
    {
      "kind": "official",
      "text": "If someone finds the private key and sweeps the address in less than 60 minutes after I post the questions, we have a winner. Else I take back the funds. Either way I explain what I designated as the correct answers.",
      "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/"
    },
    {
      "kind": "official",
      "text": "I will not explain more about the format and how to sweep the funds after you found the correct answer beyond what I said above in this original post. Navigating this is part of the challenge.",
      "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/"
    },
    {
      "kind": "official",
      "text": "I have claimed the funds back just now. Failed to get a winner this time, sorry.",
      "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/"
    },
    {
      "kind": "official",
      "text": "Questions 1 and 2 were without objective answer. Questions 3 to 5 were easy for anyone who read the book. Question 6 was without objective answer. As was question 7, but that one was easier.",
      "source": "https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/b9zg9p/7_million_book_quiz_challenge_to_this_subreddit/"
    }
  ]
}

Birthday quiz

Seven trivia questions about Bitcoin history hashed into BIP39 entropy. The rules and the published answer key and how the record proves its own address

Quizchain

AoiNakamoto's numbered quiz blocks on r/bitcoinpuzzles. Block 1 hashed one answer plus three characters into BIP39 entropy, and the key went public in the comments

@agntn/puzzles·MIT license· Public data about public puzzles. Balances come from the chains' explorers through the worker, cached for five minutes. Every key here was public before it landed in a record.