Puzzle 71 historical research findings

I published reproducible historical, source-code, and on-chain research concerning Bitcoin Puzzle #71.

Repository:
https://github.com/lutfiEmre/bitcoin-puzzle-71-research

Main findings:

• The 2011 Casascius Bitcoin Address Utility used two deterministic formulas. Its published test vector confirms the C2 formula byte-for-byte.

• Compressed Puzzle addresses do not prove that the original deterministic source wallet used compressed keys, because the keys may have been transformed before the final addresses were generated.

• An exact 100 BTC sibling output from the original funding transaction revealed a compressed 2-of-3 multisig script. WalletExplorer attributes its co-spend cluster to Bitstamp, although this has not been independently confirmed.

I am not claiming to have recovered Puzzle #71's private key or seed.

I am looking for archived pre-2015 deterministic-wallet source code, binaries, wallet backups, or other primary-source evidence connected to the Puzzle creator or funding addresses.

Update: the first research pass is now complete and fully reproducible in the repository.

The GitHub provenance audit reviewed 49 search hits. All relevant results were modern tools, mirrors, address lists, or secondary research published between 2021 and 2026. No pre-2015 Puzzle artifact, creator-linked commit, wallet backup, seed, xpub, MPK, chain code, exact transform, or verified Puzzle #71 public key was found.

The on-chain continuity audit found strong control continuity between the 2017 redistribution transaction and the 2019 public-key disclosure transaction, because both spent original Puzzle outputs. The 2023 reward increase is still unattributed; it is consistent with the creator’s earlier statement, but there is no cryptographic proof that the same person funded it.

I also tested one explicit interpretation of the creator’s “masked with leading 000...0001” statement. Using the revealed public keys from high-numbered Puzzles, I generated possible pre-mask source public keys for Puzzles #248–#256 and checked both compressed and uncompressed addresses for historical blockchain activity.

Result: no non-trivial source-address hit was found. This does not prove that the source wallet did not exist. The original source addresses may never have been used on-chain, or the masking interpretation may be wrong.

Current status:

• Verified Puzzle #71 public key: not found

• Seed/root/xpub/MPK: not found

• Exact generator and mask transform: not confirmed

• Private-key recovery claim: none

I am specifically looking for primary evidence created before January 2015: archived deterministic-wallet source code, binaries, wallet files, backups, master public keys, old forum posts, paste sites, or files connected to the Puzzle funding addresses.

Please include the original URL, archive timestamp, file hash, and provenance when sharing a lead.

Repository:
https://github.com/lutfiEmre/bitcoin-puzzle-71-research