Claude cracks 26-year-old NSA cipher in 30 minutes, reigniting Bitcoin's secp256k1 debate

jamestagg · x · 2026-10-18

A viral thread argues that while everyone applauds Claude solving a 26-year-old NSA cipher in 30 minutes as an AI victory, the real story is why Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 distrusted the NSA's P-256 curve and chose secp256k1 for Bitcoin. The post includes reproduction code deriving rand48 seeds and hashes, reviving the question of whether that 26-year paranoia was justified.

Related event: Claude Cracks Decades-Old NSA Elliptic Curve Seed Mystery in 30 Minutes(30 posts)→

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