Hello fellow puzzle solvers,
After spending really too much time of my life trying different code and algorithms, buying and running loud hot hardware to solve #66 & #130I started to wander about ethics of what I am trying to do !
OK, if I have a really really good luck, I will find the key after 1-2 more years!
... BUT !!! Do I have the right to take the coins in the address? ...
The coins (the money) are not mine, and the owner (the assumed puzzle creator) never said that, if I brake the private key, I have the right to take the money !!! (Also the fact that the person has more money than us, does not give us the right to take his money!)
So .. did I spent so much time of my life trying to become a thief? ...
The assumption when I started was ... That is a challenge .. I can do my best .. BUT Do I have the moral right to get money assuming it is by the rules ? ... There are no official rules? We conveniently assume the owner intentions and are ready to get his money ... but what if we are wrong?
Tell me something, when you find the puzzle key and transfer it to your address, who is going to say you weren't the real owner? The rules in crypto are different, when you hold a private key by the law you are the owner, ethically?
If it's for someone else, you should never touch them, but when someone intentionally sends bitcoins to 160 addresses starting from 1, it means they are dropping bread crumbs along the way as a beacon to signal those capable to take them if they can, to what end? To see how fast they can take it. Now since finding a key even in lowest ranges is not an easy task, the person who finds it, can keep it as a bounty prize.
More importantly, solving them requires fast tools, and not everyone is able to develop such programs, so when they do and use it to find a key, they take the coins as their reward.
You might wonder, but why?? Because paying $30M to make sure +$600B is safe is a good deal.
Now where are those 600B? They reside in 255+ bit range, where are puzzle keys 30M? They reside from 66 bit up to 160 bit. To realize how big that gap is, you'd need to multiply 2^160 by 2^96 to reach there.
The designer doesn't need to say anything, he already said thanks to those who were developing cracking tools, also a few month ago, he increased the prize 10x folds after community's request. Unless he is mentally happy (lol) I would doubt he would add more to the pot after #125 was solved if he wanted the coins for himself.