What is this challenge about?
The contestants are given the task of simulating crypto-miners. But what exactly is that?
- Cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is secured using cryptography (encryption). The best-known example is probably Bitcoin, but there are many others.
- Cryptocurrencies have to be unlocked by computers solving complicated equations - the fastest wins.
- The contestants on the show have to simulate the computers and solve the puzzles as quickly as possible. Each time a contestant finds a suitable solution before their fellow contestants, they receive a reward in the form of a Take Off coin.
Do you want to try it too?
Then download the file with the puzzles and the file with the solutions - and off you go!
Want to know how the contestants solved this challenge?
Then watch the video of episode 11! (will be published on the 16th of March)
What is the scientific background to this challenge?
Cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular in recent years. They can be used for investments or as a means of payment. They only exist online, there are no physical coins or notes as with traditional currencies. They are only available in a limited total number (bitcoins, for example, are limited to 21 million). All transactions are protected by complex codes (encryption), which makes them secure and difficult to counterfeit.
What they all have in common: They function independently of a central bank or government. The transactions are checked and confirmed by many independent computers. This is the so-called blockchain.
Blockchain is a special technology that works like a public digital ledger. All transactions are stored in ‘blocks’ that are linked to each other, and each block is checked by many computers. Example: When you send Bitcoin to someone, this transaction is recorded in the blockchain and all computers in the network confirm that it is correct. This creates trust without a central authority.
Crypto-miners are specialised computers that are used to validate transactions in a blockchain network and unlock new ‘rewards’. This process is called ‘mining’, analogous to gold mining, and works by solving puzzles. The computers are all in competition with each other - i.e. they all work on the same puzzle, but only the computer that solves it first gets the reward. In the show, the contestants have to find a solution to a mathematical puzzle (proof-of-work) in order to successfully ‘mine’.
The puzzles are asymmetrical: they are difficult to solve but easy to validate. This concept is particularly well illustrated by the Sudoku puzzle. A partially completed Sudoku puzzle is difficult to solve, but once completed, it is easy to validate that it has been solved correctly. Similar puzzles are everywhere, e.g. Rubik's Cube (hard to solve, but easy to check if all sides are the same colour) or puzzle locks (hard to separate, but easy to check if the pieces are separated).
Miners of cryptocurrencies solve such puzzles. When a puzzle is solved, the rest of the network checks its correctness, and if the solution is correct, the solver receives a reward (a so-called ‘token’). Then everyone starts working on the next puzzle in order to receive the next reward.
A few impressions from the 11th episode:
Author: Diane Bertel
Editor: Lucie Zeches (FNR)
Photos: Emmanuel Claude
