In the first installment of this series, we introduced the concept of “quantum computing” and how, while still experimental, its implications for blockchain security include the potential exposure of public keys, the theft of funds—and thus the transformation of cryptocurrencies as we know them. That article focused on the SHA-256 algorithm’s contribution to Bitcoin security primarily via its consensus mechanism, but SHA-256 is only one side of the coin so to speak. In this second part, we will examine the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA). A signature algorithm deeply embedded within the Bitcoin protocol, ECDSA adds a layer of authentication by linking a public key with its corresponding private…
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Could Quantum Computing Mean the Death of Crypto?
Interest is growing in cryptography resilient to quantum attacks
Contained in the bizarre world of quantum mechanics—where physical matter has properties of both particles and waves, and subatomic particles exist in multiple states at one time until observed—may lie the key to unparalleled computational speed. While still highly experimental, governments have been investing in research into “quantum computing” for years, and a recent article in Wired notes that last year venture capitalists “plowed a record $1.8 billion into companies working on quantum computing hardware or software worldwide…nearly five times the amount invested in 2019.” Whereas the basic unit of information in traditional digital electronics is the bit (a logical state with two possible values, typically expressed as 0 and…
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Survey sheds light on crypto users’ poor security practices
A quarter of the people who took part in the study by hardware wallet maker Ngrave are less secure than they expected to be—and only 1% are safer
While losses were down substantially in 2020, according to CipherTrace, crypto fraud, thefts, and hacks still accounted for $1.8 billion through October. That includes September’s $281 million hack of the KuCoin exchange in September.
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Exchanges start delisting XRP following SEC action against Ripple
Citing concerns that it is illegal to trade unregistered securities, at least three small cryptocurrency exchanges halted XRP trading today
Cryptocurrency exchanges OSL, Beaxy, and CrossTower suspended trading in XRP on Dec. 23 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit claiming the fourth-largest cryptocurrency is an unregistered security sold by American blockchain giant Ripple.
