Crypto “Easter eggs”

Ever since I stumbled upon some online videos revealing “Easter eggs” in movies and games I have been a huge fan of these hidden messages and puzzles. Knowing where to find them but especially the buzz and speculation created around them when it becomes clear they are hidden by someone fascinates me. No wonder these puzzles can also be found in the crypto industry, for crypto literally meaning “hidden” or “secret”. Here are a few examples of these crypto Easter eggs.  

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DNA Bitcoin challenge 

In 2015 Nick Goldman gave a presentation at the World Economic Forum about using DNA to store information. After this presentation he handed out tubes of DNA, which contained an encoded private key to a bitcoin wallet with one bitcoin. After the deadline almost passed a student from Belgium eventually cracked the code. In the DNA there were nine hidden files stored, he found five and the first two contained instructions to claim the bitcoin. The student cashed the bitcoin and threw a party for his colleagues and invested in DNA equipment. 

Bitcoin hidden in art 

The artist Marguerite Christine, who goes by the name the coin artist, created a series of artwork called: “The Legend of Satoshi Nakamoto”. The series contained a total of four different images, each holding a private key, giving access to a bitcoin treasure. The buzz created around this puzzle in the crypto community was enormous. One by one the paintings were decrypted and the bitcoin claimed, but one piece remained unsolved. After three years the private key hidden in the painting called “ORCHED H34R7S” was finally found. To solve the puzzle a cipher was needed, being the key with ribbons in the image. This cipher was needed in combination with the 4-bit strings hidden in de flames surrounding the image to crack the puzzle. Below you can find the art work (and also a link to the other paintings).  

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Recently the artist Andy Bauch created a series called ‘New Money’, using around 100,000 LEGO pieces. Inside these artworks 10,000 dollars worth of bitcoin and other currencies is hidden. Maybe you can crack the code? A riddle containing some kind of reward certainly seems to create a lot of commitment from hunters to eventually be solved. I certainly hope many more of these hidden messages will be connected to various cryptocurrencies. Also funny to realize every bitcoin block being mined actually is some kind of Easter egg hunt..