Rum, Rootkits, and Coins: Tradecraft Challenge
Welcome to the Tradecraft Challenge — an exercise in creativity, negotiation, hacker ingenuity, and a dash of pirate cunning.
Your mission: With your starting item in hand, you will set sail and trade, plunder, and barter your way through DEFCON until you return with a Legendary Pirate doubloon.
This challenge is about the journey, the rum-fueled shenanigans, the stories and the pirate's booty you encounter along the way.
Every trade tells a story, every negotiation builds character, and every decision reflects your creativity, cunning, and connection to the DEFCON and hacker culture.
All rules are subject to interpretation and final ruling of the Whiskey Pirates and 0d1n._
📋 CHALLENGE SPECIFICS
- Only 40 official starter items will be distributed. Once they're gone, no further participants will be accepted.
- Coins will be released in waves over the course of the week to control access and encourage participation. In the event more Starter items are discovered, the first 40 will earn a space in the dinghy.
- Strategic timing:
- Monday (Bsides): 4 coins
- Tuesday (Bsides): 6 coins
- Wednesday AM (Bsides): 2 coins
- Thursday (DEFCON): 9 coins
- Friday (DEFCON): 9 coins
- Saturday (DEFCON): 9 coins
- Sunday AM (DEFCON): 1 coin
- Challenge opens: Monday @ 9:00 AM at Bsides LV
- All Trade Logs and final trade submissions must be turned in by: Sunday @ close of DEFCON
- Trade Logs and your final trade may be submitted to 0d1n any time throughout the week.
- Follow updates on X (formerly Twitter) at: @odinkai2112
- Announcements, reminders, and updates will be posted exclusively on X.
- 0d1n will be accessible to accepted participants in person or via X (formerly Twitter)
- Participants who are accepted into the challenge will also be provided a phone number for text communication. Please be courteous and civil.
- If you accept the challenge and do not complete it, the Coin will go into the pool for random dispersal to others.
- Each participant must have their own starter item and ledger sheet (Trade Log). Shared or team entries are allowed, but only one coin will be awarded per group.
- Protect your Trade Log like it’s root access. Lost or missing Logs mean disqualification unless convincing evidence of the journey can be verified through media, witnesses, or digital trail.
- Coin awards are not guaranteed, even if you complete 10 trades. If the final trade clearly violates the spirit or rules of the challenge, you may be disqualified.
- Have fun and do your best.
🎲 STARTING INVENTORY
To start the journey, each participant will receive:
- A 3D-printed 0d1n's Triple Horn — a symbol of wisdom, challenge, and hacker honor
- A small notebook (your Trade Log)
- A red pen
Only the 3D-printed 0d1n's Triple Horn may be used to initiate your first trade. No substitutions or bundled starting items are allowed. This item anchors your trade journey and must begin the chain.
🎯 MINIMUM TRADES TO QUALIFY
You must complete at least 10 unique trades to be eligible for submission. More trades are OK and encouraged.
⚔️ RULES OF THE CHALLENGE
- You must not divulge the reason for trading to anyone. The true purpose of your trades and of the Tradecraft Challenge should remain secret throughout the con. Let your story be written through your actions, not your explanations.
- You must begin with the official starter item: a 3D-printed 0din's Triple Horn.
- You are encouraged to creatively maximize the value of each trade. Channel the curiosity of a phreaker, the cunning of a pirate, and the cleverness of a hacker to engineer the most legendary deal imaginable.
- Your trade chain must maintain continuity. Each new trade must directly include the previous item, either as a physical object or as a documented element of the trade story.
Example: If you trade your Triple Horn for a DEFCON sticker in Trade #1, then in Trade #2, that sticker must still be part of what you trade forward (e.g., you trade the sticker and a badge ribbon for something new). You may bundle or enhance, but the original lineage must be traceable from start to finish.
- You must return to 0d1n with your final trade item and the Trade Log to be eligible.
- Only one coin will be awarded per participant. However, exceptional performances may unlock special bonuses such as early access to next year’s coin challenge or future limited-edition coin.
- The Trade Log must be legible.
✅ ALLOWED TRADES
- 🔁 Multi-item bundle (your side only, after first trade): Offer multiple item(s), action(s), or experience(s) other(?) to receive the next one item, action, or experience in return. The previous trade item must remain a part of the trade chain, either physically or as a documented component of the trade story.
- 🎭 Performance-for-item: Short performances like a joke, riddle, or microhack may be used as barter, but remember if you are going to trade the performance for something new, it needs to be the same performance (at least in spirit)!
- 📖 Story-based trade: Use a compelling or absurd story, hacker folklore, or a crafted narrative to increase the perceived value of your item, action, or experience. Stories may themselves become the trade — especially toward the end — when the tale of your journey becomes more valuable than any object.
- 🧠 Social wager: Use games of chance (e.g., coin flip, rock-paper-scissors, dice roll) or mental challenges (e.g., trivia, riddles, logic puzzles) to win a trade. You must offer your item, action, or experience as a stake — and if you win, you claim the other party’s. These trades are valid only if the exchange was agreed to beforehand and documented clearly in your log. Maybe it's possible to break your trade chain! (be creative on how you might recover!)
- 🤝 Group trade: Team up with another participant to combine your trade histories, merge item value, or jointly negotiate for something better. These trades must still follow the chain-of-custody rules — and both logs must reflect the exchange. Think of it as a brief Parlay, not a permanent merger. Oh, and remember: whatever you do, definitely don’t talk about the Tradecraft Challenge. It’s obviously not a secret hacker barter society or anything like that.
🚫 DISALLOWED TRADES
- 💸 Use of cash or monetary exchange.
- 🛍️ Buying items from vendors to use in the challenge.
- 🔁 Trading with the same person more than once.
- 🧩 Trading for items already known to be recycled or reused from other participants' chains.
⚖️ MORALLY AMBIGUOUS TRADES
- 🕳️ Secret favors or whispered trades: Bartering based on reputation, influence, or insider access. Tread lightly; all trades must follow all rules and should never endanger safety, consent, or DEFCON or pirate spirit.
- 🎲 Quests or challenges: Offering to complete a task, solve a puzzle, or pull off a dare in exchange for a trade.
- 🧪 Mystery trades: Trading for an unknown item under strange conditions. These are risky, theatrical, and sometimes brilliant — if documented well.
- ❓ Questionable Ethics: Hacker's best judgement on situations or shenanigans.
🏁 RULES FOR FINAL ITEM SUBMISSION
🧠 THE SPIRIT OF FINAL SUBMISSION
Your submission isn't about market value — it's about narrative, transformation, and connection. We’re looking for the unexpected, the clever, and the meaningful.
Examples:
- A USB drive filled with digital folklore collected from other attendees.
- A drawing made collaboratively through ten trades.
- A lanyard that tells a ridiculous story via annotations from each trader.
❌ Your final submission must NOT be:
- Trash or traditionally valueless (e.g., empty cups, receipts, lint) — unless the value is symbolic, sentimental, or culturally meaningful within the DEFCON/hacker/pirate spirit.
- Illegal, hazardous, or otherwise against con policy.
- Purchased with money during the challenge.
✅ Your final submission CAN be:
- Intangible (e.g., a performance, story, or interaction) — as long as it clearly demonstrates creativity, effort, or cultural relevance.
- Clever, interesting, DEFCON-themed, or story-worthy.
- Anything not restricted or illegal.
Details and information will be required for all submissions. consider it an epic tale of how you achieved your final trade.
🏆 LEGENDARY ACHIEVEMENTS
This challenge is more than a checklist; it's a chance to create something unforgettable.
Whether your final submission is hilarious, ingenious, or emotionally resonant, going above and beyond
could earn you a place in Pirate lore. The coin is cool. The story you forge is legendary.
Every trade is a chapter; make yours worth retelling.
Only 40 official starter items (3D-printed 0d1n's Triple Horns) will be distributed. Once they're gone, no new entries will be accepted. If you're holding one, you're already part of something rare — now earn your place in pirate legend, worthy of the high seas.
The top 6 category winners — chosen for their creativity, ingenuity, and legendary stories — will be selected post-con for special honors and potential future bonus coins.
🏅 POST-CON CATEGORIES
- 🥇 Best overall submission
- 🧠 Most clever trade sequence submission
- 🎭 Funniest or most absurd final submission
- 🔥 Most DEFCON-relevant submission
- ⚙️ Most trades completed for submission
- 🃏 Judge's wild card
📓 HOW TO RECORD YOUR TRADES
Format your Trade Log as shown below to record all trades clearly. Your Log must be submitted along with your final item.
You are strongly encouraged to include proof of each trade where possible. This may include a photo of the trade, a witness, or a brief written description of the exchange that adds credibility or color to the trade story.
🖋️ TRADE LOG EXAMPLE
What Did You Give?
What Did You Get?
Who Did You Trade With? (First name, handle, or anonymous)
Date/Time
Notes/Story
🧾 Description of the final trade item
📖 Best story from your trading journey
Submit your Trade Log and final item to the 0d1n any time before the close of DEFCON on Sunday.
May your trades be bold, your logic sound, and your final submission legendary.