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We all know that Bitcoin uses a decentralized digital ledger called the blockchain to record and verify all of its transactions. The blockchain is actually a sequence of blocks, each being a virtual container storing a group of bitcoin transactions. These blocks are what the Bitcoin miners are constantly working to create. The mining machines worldwide are constantly making cryptographic calculations to securely confirm new transactions in a block. Once the correct calculation is found for a new block, it is mined successfully and confirmed by the whole Bitcoin network as being valid, with no double spends or other faulty...

Bitcoin prices just crossed $12,000 again, and even though this is not the first time, it feels dramatically different this time. The overall global macro situation and the heated crypto market makes it different. It brings back memories of Bitcoin’s price rising slowly exactly 4 years ago, in the fall of 2016.  I’ve been involved in Bitcoin since early 2011, so this is my tenth year now. Throughout the past 10 years, the price of Bitcoin has always been an important component of its story. Many people say that Bitcoin’s utility is the most important for this decentralized digital currency,...

Last week, I posted a hacking contest in which I asked you to hack my two Ballet REAL Bitcoin wallets, loaded with a combined value of over $21,000 in bitcoin (1.0 BTC on each wallet). I said that it’ll be very hard for anyone to try and steal those bitcoins, even though I’ve already provided the encrypted private key and the BIP38 decryption passphrase for each of the two wallets, respectively. The reason is that BIP38 is hard to hack. What about us, Ballet? Can we steal your funds? In practice, no, because in our manufacturing process, we don’t store...

Yesterday, Ballet announced that its total customer wallet deposits have reached USD $21 million of equivalent cryptocurrency. Today, I’m excited to share a $21,000 challenge with you: I want you to try and hack my own personal REAL Bitcoin wallets. I have loaded 2 wallets, each with 1.0 BTC, which is a combined value of over $21,000 at today’s prices. For one wallet (serial number AA009926), I have revealed the full encrypted private key underneath the silver sticker. If you can guess the corresponding BIP38 passphrase, then you can take my 1.0 BTC. Yes, give it a try! Here’s the...

Here’s a secret: I’ve been wanting to publish a personal blog for a long, long time, but have never gotten around to doing it properly. Today, in celebration of an important company milestone (for Ballet, my new cryptocurrency wallet startup), I’m seizing this opportunity to type up my first blog entry, and posting it right here on my new namesake domain: bobbylee.com Welcome to bobbylee.com! (By the way, I've been wanting to purchase bobbylee.com for over 20 years, since the late 1990’s if I remember correctly. I missed the chance to register it first, as some other “Bobby Lee” from...