Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: == Bitcoin challenge transaction: ~1000 BTC total bounty to solvers! ==UPDATED==
by
Gerbie
on 06/12/2024, 13:29:34 UTC
Guys if we found public key for puzzle 67,68,,69
will it make it easier to find private keys ?
i know the public key but dont know what to do

Dear Astax51,

in the lower bit-range, like puzzle #67, 68 and 69, having the public key is like having the private key.
With the public key it takes a maximum of a few minutes to get the private key.

This is also what happened when the puzzle #66 was solved and tried to transfer the bitcoins. After broadcasting the public key for the transaction, it was picked up by bots which used it to calculate the private key and made a RBF transaction with a higher fee to replace the original transaction and so stole the bitcoins.

If you have the public keys, and know how to handle them, you'll have the private keys. But:
1. as soon as you give someone the public key, consider the bitcoins lost.
2. if you manage yourself to find the private key, transferring the bitcoins is very risky. There is a big chance, they get stolen by bots.

So be very careful who you trust and work with...

Kind regards, best wishes and good luck!