Really informative video but this is talking about hashing functions. Private keys are created differently using (some) shared information between the private and public keys. If there was one area I could see the us investing their time and effort since RSA came out it's here. Don't get me wrong, it would be out there if they could crack even one key but like I said, if anyone can it's them.
No. If anyone had the ability to crack bitcoin addresses, they would not spend that technology on something as inconsequential as this. It would be saved for national defense issues
Still stupid. As soon as some entity reveals they have the power to crack one of these algorithms, everyone scrambles to migrate to something orders of magnitude harder. It's a weapon you'd only be able to use for maybe a few weeks or months before all the worthwhile targets immunize themselves against you.
We already have quantum safe asymmetric cryptography, just no incentive to move fast to deploy it.
How would quantum solve any problems here? I thought the benefit of quantum crypto was the ability to send information while detecting eavesdroppers. I don't think quantum computers have outclassed traditional cpus in processing power.
If they FBI did actually crack a private key, it would almost certainly have to be with a top secret, insanely powerful quantum computer that's decades ahead of what is publicly known to exist. The existence of such a computer that could crack bitcoin private keys would also be a powerful tool against every organization on the planet and their ability to maintain secrets.
Bottom line, there are much more useful things you could use this computer for, like cracking all encrypted communications of a foreign power or hacking into their military or financial systems. Using it to crack a single bitcoin key to recover a few million dollars only serves to alert all your adversaries that it's time to upgrade their cryptography.
And who decides when it's time to make the switch? Because it's not a random government. It will most likely be the us putting pressure on technology companies to switch
Well HTTPS isn't used everywhere and governments have decided that banks need to meet an extremely strict set of rules to operate. As much as we'd like to think of the internet as the wild west, it is not.
HTTPS is used almost everywhere. And it's not like a government decrees something and it's done. Laws involve multiple stakeholders, and there are multiple governments which converge on the same decision.
It is correct to state that security best practices are not decided by one entity but rather figured out organically and on a non centralized basis.
Bitcoin keys are ECDSA (secp256k1) keys. The same scheme is used in many other areas of computer security; it would be incredibly foolish for the NSA to reveal an exploit they're sitting on, even indirectly.
Would it really be that foolish though? Could it not be perceived as a show of strength? That's why America stole them back in the first place right? $4m isn't a lot to the company hacked or to the USA. Why go to the trouble of stealing them back at all?
