The year is 2139. The very last bitcoin is slated to be mined in two weeks. For months, a final countdown has been taking place in Times Square for the last block when there will be officially no more bitcoin issued.

And then suddenly, the network comes to a crawl. Instead of the normal ten-minute block interval, blocks are coming in just a few times a day, if not longer. Your mom's bitcoin node stops syncing. The media starts reporting on the situation. It's everywhere on social media.

The price of bitcoin is falling. There is a knock at your door, and when you open it, a yellowed, age-weathered envelope has been left for you. There's no name or return address. What could be inside?

The network outage has to be related to the block subsidy. There’s no way this is a coincidence.

You hop on your computer to do some research on mining when you notice something unusual about the few blocks that are being mined. They all seem to be coming from the same place, possibly even the same mining pool. What happened to the rest of the miners?

Phew, that was close. You are still shaking from your battle againstAmestris, yet relieved that a victory was possible.

As you settle at your desk, you take a deep breath and drift off toreplay the day’s events. Your hands keep themselves busy playing withthe mysterious envelope, as you wonder who sent it. Who still usesenvelopes anyways, it’s 2139 after all. Even more curious is that thereis a stamp on it, from 2008...could this be another hint?

Suddenly, you realize that you never claimed the block rewards from yourcompetition with Amestris. Your bitcoin wallet is running low, so now’sa good time to top it up again.

A mysterious billionaire is claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Why would Satoshi come forward after all this time? What are the chances Satoshi is even alive?

While the public debate is largely focused on the spectacle, you have an inkling that it might be possible to disarm the claim using your knowledge of cryptography.

Wow, you proved Vanderpoole wrong. Everyone’s talking about it and you’re famous. Meanwhile, Vanderpoole has disappeared and he’s silent on social media. Amidst the fracas, a reporter reaches out to you. They’ve received a tip about Vanderpoole and what he’s planning.

The only problem is they are running low on funds and need to pay for travel. Luckily, they have an emergency fund in a geographically distributed multisig, but they’ve never used it before. Can you help them recover their funds?

You get a phone call. It’s the reporter. He tracked down Vanderpoole who is hiding on one of his private islands and plotting his revenge.

Ever since you discredited Vanderpoole, investors have been selling Amestris shares en masse and decreasing his net worth. He’s really not that rich, after all, and now he is trying to claim your UTXOs belong to him.

The reporter tells you to stay safe, but you’re not too worried. You hang up the phone, but there’s a problem: it’s been hacked.

Things are finally settling down. But people are confused and uncertain about whether the bitcoin supply has been tampered with. Your friend, a professor at a local university, asks you to help with research for an article on this topic. You happily agree, pop open your laptop, and get to work.

Worries about the bitcoin supply have been mostly laid to rest, but one concern still lingers in the public mind. While you’ve managed to restore confidence in the network, the block subsidy will run out next week. Without it, is the network still sustainable or has too much damage been done?

At last, the moment has arrived. The final block has been mined to much celebration.

During the festivities, you get a strange text. It’s from a number you don’t recognize. The message tells you to run and hide. Vanderpoole and his henchmen have figured where you are, and they’re coming to steal your bitcoin.

Don’t panic, you tell yourself. Think. What kind of trap can you set for them?

Trust has been reestablished and more and more of the miners that were attacked are coming back online. The halving passes, and the fee market is stable.

There’s just one last question: what to do with all this bitcoin? You don’t really need it. What matters to you is the network. We are all Satoshi. You decide to release the bitcoin back into the world, starting with donating to charities. How can you do that as efficiently as possible?