Apr 27, 2023

Architect Cracks Seed Phrase, Wins $29 in BTC

Andrew Fraser, a systems architect from Boston, recently cracked a seed phrase and won a 100,000 Satoshi bounty, or 0.001 Bitcoin (BTC), worth roughly $29, in just under half an hour. Cointelegraph spoke to Fraser to learn more about the incident and the importance of keeping crypto wallets secure.

A seed phrase, or recovery phrase, is a string of random words generated when a wallet is created. This phrase acts as a master key, allowing access to the wallet. Fraser was able to brute force a 12-word seed phrase that Bitcoin educator “Wicked Bitcoin” shared on Twitter, which challenged users to decipher the correct order of the 12-word seed phrase. It took Fraser 25 minutes to unlock the 100,000 Satoshis.

Fraser used BTCrecover, a software application available on GitHub, to crack the code. This software offers a range of tools that can determine seed phrases with missing or scrambled mnemonics and passphrase-cracking utilities.

When asked about the security of 12-word seed keys, Fraser explained that they are “perfectly secure if the words remain unknown to an attacker or there is a passphrase ’13th seed word’ used in the derivation path of the wallet.” He noted that 24-word seed keys are even more secure, with 256 bits of entropy compared to the 128 bits of entropy of a 12-word seed.

Fraser also underlined the importance of keeping seed phrases secret and not storing them in a password manager or cloud storage solution. He also advised users to take advantage of a passphrase that functions as part of the derivation path.

As for the 100,000 Sats Fraser took home? He tweeted that he spent them on dinner that night: Chicken Marsala. Talk about a circular economy!

The incident serves as a reminder for Bitcoin users and crypto enthusiasts to take crypto security seriously. It is essential to keep seed phrases secure and offline to ensure the safety of digital assets.

Disclaimer: All investment or financial opinions expressed by MoonLanding Media are not recommendations and are intended for entertainment purposes only. Do your own research prior to making any kind of investment. This article has been generated based on trending topics, has not been fact checked and may contain incorrect information. Please verify all information before relying on it.