If you cast your mind back to July, we noticed some strange things happening with the domain 21e8.com following an alleged vanity hash produced in block 528,249. The site originally started out by displaying the ever expanding e8 pattern, but it quickly changed and displayed a countdown timer. The timer was counting down to a very specific day, January 3 2020.
In the early hours of this morning, the counter hit 0 and we waited for the fireworks. However, in the hours following the countdown reaching 0, very little happened. We’ve seen a number of other countdowns end with disappointment, but 21e8.com has a lot of secrets under the surface. This could mean the show is simply delayed. Let’s dive into the mystery that is 21e8.com!
Why January 3?
For those of you that know your Bitcoin history, January 3 is the anniversary of the Bitcoin genesis block. That block contained two extra 0s that appear in no other block, and this inly happened because Satoshi cranked up the difficulty to prove his computing power to the world. This makes January 3 a very symbolic day in the Bitcoin world and would be a great day for a Bitcoin fan to launch their product, service or device.
You’re Not Making Any Sense!
Before you go any further, you’re going to need to check out our roundup from when the timer first made an appearance back in July 2019. The ties to Bitcoin developer Andrew T DeSantis are hard to ignore, with his deos.org domain showing the same pattern before the timer appeared. Given DeSantis is a tech genius and Bitcoin developer, it helps make the connections between 21e8.com and DeSantis a bit clearer. It’s without a doubt that DeSantis is the person running the website, and this is where things get VERY interesting.
Is Quantum Computing Here?
DeSantis has been obsessed with quantum computing for years, and that was the original goal of his deos.org project. On his Twitter page, DeSantis has been posting like a crazy person, and most of his Tweets make little to no sense to the average reader. DeSantis is obsessed with quantum theory and if his updates on 21e8.com are anything to go by, he has already achieved some form of success – even on a small scale. On August 9 2018, the pattern changed and the website displayed a message that read: “Simulation Successful, moving to development mark ii” This confirms that whatever DeSantis is working on works in the testing and simulation phase, and it stands to reason that two years later he has a final product close to ready. Whether it’s quantum computing or not is yet to be seen.
Other Mysterious Websites Linked to 21e8.com
After digging further, a handful of other websites hosted on the same server share similar confusing properties and stand out as abnormalities. First up is 012345.ch. This rather odd website displays huge red numbers and when the user clicks on 0 a timer appears. It’s still not clear what this site has to do with 21e8.com and DeSantis, but it shares a number of similar characteristics. Then, there is 01189998819991197253.tech.This rather random and strange site simply displays the number 01189998819991197253 – it’s that simple. These puzzles living on the same server are no coincidence, with all three domains using state of the art WhoIs shielding to hide information about the owner.
Still Waiting…
For now, this is all we know. We’ve dug into every lead possible, but it all either turns up in dead ends or is covered by security and privacy. Stay tuned to FullyCrypto to make sure you get the latest updates on 21e8.com and be the first to find out what the big secret is!
