Think you’re a good hacker? Prove it and win $1 million

Cardano’s Lace Wallet isn’t just introducing a new security feature—it’s putting it to the ultimate test with a $1 million bug bounty challenge. Announced by Charles Hoskinson, CEO of Input Output (IO), during the Rare Evo blockchain event in Las Vegas, this challenge is designed to see if anyone can crack the security of Lace Wallet’s latest upgrade.

If you can hack it; You can keep it! 1 million dollars! https://t.co/TTtHocHHbs

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) August 17, 2024

It will not be easy

The Lace Wallet now uses Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption to protect its private keys. PGP is a strong encryption method that’s been trusted for years to keep information secure. This upgrade is a big deal for paper wallets, which are usually just printed pieces of paper with your keys on them—easy to use, but also easy to lose or steal.

In the Lace Wallet, both the public and private keys are shown as QR codes. The public key can be shared with anyone to receive payments, but the private key is encrypted with PGP, which means it’s locked up and can’t be used unless you have the right decryption key.

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PGP is known for being secure, but this challenge will really test its strength. If nobody can break it, it will prove just how secure PGP is.

Let’s talk about how to get the $1 million bug bounty

The challenge is simple: if you can break the PGP encryption and access the private key of the Lace Wallet, you win $1 million in USDM stablecoin. Here’s how it works:

• The wallet: The Lace Wallet involved in this challenge is specially created for it. It has a public key and a private key, but the private key is protected by PGP encryption.
• The reward: The wallet currently holds an NFT (Non-Fungible Token). If someone manages to hack the wallet and get the private key, the NFT will be swapped out for $1 million in USDM stablecoin.
• Time frame: The challenge runs until the end of 2024, giving hackers plenty of time to try to break into the wallet.

This is a way for Cardano to show how confident they are in their security. By putting $1 million on the line, they’re saying they believe their encryption is tough enough to keep everyone out.

Bigger picture

The $1 million bug bounty challenge tied to Lace Wallet is more than just a test of security—it’s an experiment in combining traditional cryptographic methods with modern blockchain technology. By integrating PGP encryption into a paper wallet, the challenge invites the crypto community to explore new ways of securing digital assets.

This challenge is not just about the prize money; it’s about examining the effectiveness of PGP encryption in protecting sensitive information in the blockchain space. Whether or not the bounty is claimed, the outcome will contribute valuable insights into the future of crypto security and the role of encryption in safeguarding digital assets.

Featured image credit: Eray Eliaçık/Bing