In Bitcoin, a private key is a single unsigned 256-bit integer (32 bytes) for a traditional computer, it takes in the order of 2 128 basic operations to get the Bitcoin private key associated with a Bitcoin public key.
The security of the ECDSA comes from the fact that as of now it is extremely difficult to factor a large integer composed of two or more large prime factors.
This algorithm operates one way only, meaning you can create the public key from the private key, but not the other way around. In Bitcoin, private keys produce a public key via an Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm or ECDSA. There are two categories of cryptographic algorithms used within Bitcoin: the hashing algorithm (SHA-256) RIPEMD160 and the digital signature algorithm (ECDSA). These keys are linked through a specific cryptographic relationship. To better understand where the danger is for Bitcoin, let’s have a look at its core cryptography.Īnyone with a cryptocurrency wallet has a private key and a public key. Bits have the value of 1 or 0, but the Qubit, thanks to superposition can be both, depending on their quantum state. This extraordinary computing power comes for Quantum bits or Qubits, which are analogous of the bit in the classic computers.
Quantum Computing started in the early 1980s when Richard Feynman and Yuri Manin expressed the idea that a quantum computer had the potential to simulate things that a classical computer could not. In this article, we address a concern about blockchain security, namely, Quantum computers and the potential of an “attack” on Bitcoin’s cryptography encryption.