Last year I organized a Seed Phrase Hunt for the community, and the response was incredible. The puzzles, the collaboration, the thrill of the chase ā it was everything I hoped it would be.
So Iām doing it again. But this time, Iām playing the long game.
The vision
This hunt is designed to be hard. Not āsolved in a weekendā hard ā more like āthis might take monthsā hard. The idea is simple: with ANT at its current price, we have a unique opportunity to build a prize pool now that could become something truly remarkable as the network grows. Imagine the reach we could generate with a prize pot thatās grown 10x or more by the time someone finally cracks it.
Timeline
The hunt wonāt start until the network is stable enough for permanent data storage and accessible to a broader audience. Expect all puzzle pieces to be released Q2 2025 at the earliest. This gives everyone plenty of time to contribute ā whether thatās a one-time donation or slowly converting your node rewards into the prize pool for a steady build-up.
Collaboration with Autonomi
Iāve been in touch with Jim, and heās enthusiastic about helping out. Weāre planning to hide some puzzle pieces in upcoming Autonomi social content ā turning this into a proper marketing event that boosts engagement across the board.
Contribute to the prize pool
Iāve already seeded the wallet with 1,500 ANT + ETH for gas. If you want to help make this hunt legendary, you can send contributions to:
REMOVED ADDRESS
Every bit helps ā and who knows what that ANT will be worth by the time someone finally solves it.
Stay tuned
More details on puzzle format and mechanics will follow as we get closer to launch. For now, consider this your invitation to be part of something big.
Iām not gonna lie, I have not heard of Cicada 3301 until you mentioned it. Iāve really been reading into it these last days and Iām really intrigued. I am close to finalizing the 2.0 hunt concept, I donāt think itās anywhere near the difficulty of Cicada 3301 (Iām arguably not smart enough myself to come up with it ). But itās already way too difficult for the current price pool.
Iām really hoping that this hunt will keep a bunch of people occupied for a few months, if not years. It would be a dream to see the pricepool run up as the network grows larger and really becoming a publicity stunt. Iāve personally dedicated all my nodes to the address and they will remain at that adres till someone finds the key.
This could also become a massive disappointment where nobody is willing to take the effort to crack the hard puzzles Iāve came up with. But Iām optimistic and excited at the same time
In terms of difficulty one has to factor in that ppl will probably use AI to solve the riddlesā¦ not sure if thatād be cheating and if there is a way to prevent that?
I cannot prevent it in every way, but Iāve definitely made sure that most of it is not just asking AI and be done with it There is definitely no cheating, everything is allowed, as should be in a good hunt imo.
I have decided to cancel the seed phrase hunt for the time being. The main reason is the lack of engagement from the community. Organizing this would require a significant amount of time and effort, and given the level of difficulty I had in mind, a larger prize pool would have been necessary to generate meaningful buzz and participation.
After one month, I am still the only person who has contributed to the donation address. That ultimately led me to conclude that it is best to discontinue the initiative for now.
The donation address has been removed from the original post. Please do not send any further contributions to it.
I did mean to contribute when I said I would. When you can start it up again on the new network I definitely will. Itās a good idea. Maybe itās just as well you didnāt carry it forward as it would have been on the old network.
I agreed itās ahead of its time when the place is crawling with fresh people it could be fun as it would be a waste of time to do it for an OG to go and hunt the seed at present.
). But itās already way too difficult for the current price pool.