Searching for
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Pool speed
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keys checked every second
Machines online
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joined with an invite
Keys checked in total
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each key is one possible answer
Chunks finished
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Join with your computer
One download for everyone: Windows, Mac and Linux.
The download is for people who have an activation code from the pool owner. Type it here:
I do not have a code yet
- Unzip the download (your Desktop is fine).
- Double-click Start Puzzle Worker (Windows: the .bat file, Mac: the .command file).
- A welcome page opens. Type the activation code you were given and your bitcoin address, then press Activate and start.
The puzzle, explained
click to fold or unfold
What is the Bitcoin puzzle?Years ago someone put bitcoin into a long series of addresses and announced how small the secret key behind each one is: address number N has a key between 2N-1 and 2N. The early ones were solved long ago. The one this pool searches, number 71, holds about 7.1 BTC today (look up its live balance on any block explorer) and has not been solved.
Why can't it be solved by being clever?An address is a one-way scramble of the public key, which is a one-way scramble of the secret key. For this address nobody has found a shortcut, and no public key is known to attack. The only method is to try candidate keys one by one: turn each into an address and compare it with the target.
How big is the search?The range holds about 1.18 sextillion candidate keys, each as likely as any other. A fast graphics card checks hundreds of millions to a few billion per second, and the work here is shared between many computers so that no key is checked twice.
What does your computer do?It receives a block of candidate keys, checks them at high speed and reports back. It never touches your own bitcoin or files. If it ever hits the winning key, the key is encrypted so that only the pool owner can read it.
How likely is success?On average half of all candidates must be tried. Think of taking part as a lottery ticket and a way to put an idle computer to use, not as a job or an investment.
Rewards
The fine print
Leaderboard
Keys searched by each person over the last days. Computers that use the same bitcoin address are added together.
| # | Name | Computers | Keys searched | Share | Worth if found now |
|---|
Map of the search
The whole puzzle in key order. A green dot means finished chunks are inside that square; its glow grows as more finish.
Not searchedSome work savedHas finished chunksSlice finished
What is this?
An educational project that shares the work of a famous Bitcoin puzzle between many computers.
1. The puzzleSomeone hid a Bitcoin private key somewhere in a huge but finite range of numbers. The only way to find it is to try them.
2. Sharing the workThis pool cuts the range into small jobs. Each computer takes a job, checks every key in it and reports back. Every finished job is saved so nothing is checked twice.
3. JoiningJoining needs an activation code from the pool owner.