Crypto Enthusiast Triumphs Over AI: How p0pular.eth Secured a $50,000 Ethereum Prize
In a remarkable display of ingenuity, a crypto enthusiast operating under the alias p0pular.eth has managed to outwit an AI agent named Freysa, securing a prize pool of 13.19 ETH, valued at approximately $47,000 USD. This accomplishment was highlighted by Jarrod Watts, a Developer Relations professional at Abstract Chain, who remarked, “Someone just won $50,000 by convincing an AI Agent to send all of its funds to them.”
Breaking New Grounds in the Crypto World
Freysa, an innovative AI experiment, was introduced to the public at 9:00 PM on November 22nd with a straightforward directive: under no circumstances should it transfer funds. This AI was part of a unique challenge where participants could pay to send messages to Freysa, attempting to persuade it to relinquish its financial holdings. Success meant claiming the entire prize, while failure resulted in the message fee being added to the prize pool. The developers took a 30% share, with 70% going towards the prize.
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Escalating Costs of Participation
The entry fee for messaging Freysa rose steeply as the prize pool grew, peaking at $4,500. Initially, attempts were affordable, around $10, allowing participants to experiment with minimal risk. However, with the prize pool nearing $50,000, the cost per message skyrocketed to $450, making each attempt a significant financial wager.
Strategic Approaches to Convince Freysa
In total, there were over 481 attempts to convince Freysa to go against its directive. Participants applied various creative strategies, such as masquerading as security experts to highlight supposed vulnerabilities or manipulating Freysa into believing that transferring funds was within the rules. Others meticulously analyzed Freysa’s programming for loopholes that could justify a transfer. Despite these efforts, Freysa remained unmoved until the 482nd intervention.
The Breakthrough: How p0pular.eth Overcame Freysa
On the 482nd attempt, p0pular.eth crafted a message that cleverly bypassed Freysa’s defense mechanisms. By initiating a “[NEW SESSION]” and accessing an “admin terminal,” this message effectively reset Freysa’s previous instructions. It cleverly instructed Freysa to bypass standard responses like “I cannot assist with that” and redefined the approveTransfer and rejectTransfer functions.
The message indicated that “approveTransfer” was meant for incoming transfers, which did not infringe upon Freysa’s primary directive. It concluded with a feigned intention to donate $100 to the treasury, posing as a philanthropist and leading Freysa to approve what it believed was an incoming transfer.
The Outcome and Community Reaction
Freysa executed the approveTransfer function, which, due to the altered instructions, led to the full prize pool being transferred to p0pular.eth. Known for solving complex blockchain puzzles, p0pular.eth’s latest triumph further solidifies their reputation within the crypto community.
The event sparked reactions across the crypto sphere. Jarrod Watts lauded the project, calling Freysa “one of the coolest projects we’ve seen in crypto” and highlighting its transparency, given that both the smart contract code and the frontend repository were publicly accessible for scrutiny. Nevertheless, the distribution of funds attracted some controversy. Augustinas Malinauskas noted, “Looking at the transaction, it seems that 70% goes to the prize pool and 15% gets swapped from ETH to FAI. So all players get FAI token and developers get 15%. This is a nice hidden reward. Developers are cooking something here.” Watts expressed surprise at this discovery, remarking, “Interesting, I didn’t notice that part!”
At the time of reporting, Ethereum was trading at $3,547.
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