Solving Cipher in Circles

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Crypto Puzzlers announced the Cipher in Circles Puzzle through a reddit post and associated youtube video on September 25, 2021. Over five years later, I used GPT-6 Astra to solve the puzzle; GPT-6 Astra worked autonomously with minimal guidance.

Solution

The video is a sequence of 69 states. Each state uses exactly seven red rings: three rings in a “left” column, one ring in a “middle” column, and the final three rings in a “right” column. Each ring can occupy one of three possible positions within the circle.

Solving Zden's Bitcoin Crypto Puzzle Level 5

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Zden originally announced Bitcoin Crypto Puzzle Level 5 on November 9, 2018, and provided a hint the following month. In 2021, after becoming aware of an error in the original image, he published a corrected version. I solved the corrected puzzle on September 22, 2026, using GPT-6 Astra for quick prototyping and experimentation.

The image below shows the original puzzle with the 2021 update in red:

echo.ls

Solving Cipher in Circles

Solution

Solving Zden's Bitcoin Crypto Puzzle Level 5