THELOGICALINDIAN - 00000000000000000021e800 thats 18 zeros followed by 21e8 and addition two zeros doesnt attending decidedly arresting Nor does 00000000000000000021e800c1e8df51b22c1588e5a624bea17e9faa34b2dc4a which is the complete assortment its associated with And yet this alternation of numbers and belletrist has beatific the cryptosphere into overdrive sparking allocution of breakthrough accretion breakthroughs time biking Satoshis acknowledgment and the hidden acceptation of bitcoin
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One Row of Zeros, Infinite Possibilities
On June 19 at 19:32 UTC, block cardinal 528249 was apparent by the BTC.TOP mining pool. On the face of it, there was annihilation abnormal about the block: it abstinent aloof over 1MB, had about 6,500 inputs, 1,047 outputs, and 125 Segwit transactions. But back the block is beheld in an charlatan such as Blockchair, article amazing appears back you hover your cursor over the block hash: the cardinal 00000000000000000021e800 appears.
To some, the actualization of so abounding zeros, followed by 21 (a cardinal alike with bitcoin’s absolute supply), is alone a coincidence; an accident as assured as a roulette caster landing on red 18 times afterwards bisected a actor spins. To others, it’s a near-impossible accomplishment that signals action from addition world, be it celestial, extraterrestrial, or future.
The Mother of All Hashes
It was Mark Wilcox who apparent the anomaly first, tweeting a assortment of the block about 90 account afterwards it was discovered. Bisected of crypto Twitter anon began accident their minds, while the added bisected began abrading their heads. What was the acceptation of this assortment – if, in fact, there was any?
Humans are programmed to see patterns in everything, and appropriately the fixation on 18 zeros in a row is understandable. But it’s what comes abutting in the block assortment that’s appropriately startling, for those who like to be startled, or for anyone fractional to pareidolia: acquainted a arrangement area none exists. 21e8, additionally accepted as E8, refers to a Theory of Everything, additionally accepted as a Unified Field Theory. There’s alike a website, 21e8.com, which displays a fractal arrangement based on the elementary atom circuit that forms a allotment of E8 theory.
The aftermost time bitcoiners got all aflame over a block assortment alpha with an almighty aerial cardinal of zeroes was back Satoshi mined the alpha block. After the fact, already bitcoin had developed a community, the acceptation of block assortment 000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f was advised in a Bitcointalk forum thread. There are a cardinal of abnormal things about this hash: for one thing, it contains two hex zeroes added than were required, and for another, as we explained in a previous article on the alpha block:
“It took six canicule to mine. As speculated in an old Bitcointalk forum thread, this may accept been yet addition advised ambush on the allotment of Satoshi, to actor the biblical annual of creation. As we apprehend in Genesis 2:2, “And on the seventh day God concluded his assignment which he had made; and he rested.”
What Does It All Mean?
There are two means that a block absolute an almighty aerial cardinal of zeroes could accept came about: by blow or design. If it was the former, there is annihilation to apprehend into the acceptation of block 528249 basic with 18 zeros; their attendance is no added allusive than any added cord of numbers. If it is the latter, however, and addition amid those numbers by design, again that alone has a akin of accretion ability that is currently unattainable by several orders of magnitude.
It has been estimated that it would booty 2,500 years to actualize that hash, alive at a amount of 1 exahash/second (which represents about 2.5% of the accepted BTC arrangement hashrate). For this accomplishment to accept occurred deliberately, it would had to accept been performed on a yet alien breakthrough computer, or by a time adventurer demography advantage of approaching advancements in processing power. As theories go, this one’s appealing tinfoil, but there are those who accept that Satoshi Nakamoto was a time traveler.
Such affairs are above the ambit of this article. As a beneath amazing hypothesis, one biographer has postulated that the hashed cardinal could accept been the assignment of Andrew DeSantis, who is alive on a breakthrough computer, and consistently posts cryptic letters that accept shades of E8 approach to them. DeSantis, for his part, has acquaint a series of responses to the aboriginal cheep that appear the hash, suggesting that the allowance of him hitting aloft the cardinal are infinitesimally small.
While the affairs are that the assortment of block 528249 is little added than an agreeable coincidence, the abstruseness will ammunition added belief as to Satoshi Nakamoto’s abode in amplitude and time, the afterlife of the hashed alpha block, and the actualization of 18 after zeros in addition block, hashed nine years later.
Do you anticipate there’s any significance in this cardinal or are bodies overreacting? Let us apperceive in the comments area below.
Images address of Shutterstock, and Twitter. With acknowledgment to Jamie Redman for sourcing the chilly memes.
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