Reading assignment: Hashing

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#2692
  1. SHA256
  2. There are too many possibilities for computers in our time to brute force the equation. Maybe with the development of quant computers.
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#2693

What do you mean? Hashing is always the same. Its hard to brute force because of the sheer number of possible outputs and that the only way to get the correct one is to try different inputs until you get the correct hash. :slight_smile:

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#2694
  1. What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?

The hashing algorithm used in Bitcoin is the Secure Hash Algorithm - SHA-256

  1. Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?

A cryptographic hashing algorithm is a mathematical algorithm and an one-way function feature. It is infeasible to reverse back from the output hash to the original input. It needs the exact same data input to produce exact same hash. Any single character deviated; the output hash will be completely different. To reconstruct is almost near impossible and is really harsh for brute-force attack.

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#2695

  • What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?
    SHA-256

  • Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?
    The SHA-256 hashing algorithm is almost impossible to brute-force because of it not only being designed by the NSA, but also a hash cannot be reversed to the initial raw data. A hash can only be solved in a linear, unidirectional manner. Meaning that it can never be used as a digital fingerprint

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#2696

  1. What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?
    SHA-256

  2. Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?
    It is a one-way mechanism that does not allow reversal of new hash. Successful has verification is compared to a lottery.

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#2697

Thank you calling this out Alko89. And my apologies for any confusion here.

For the question, SHA256 is already close to impossible to break making it really secure against brute force attack.

From the reading assignment, ā€œEach single target modification cannot change the value of the target by more than 4x its previous value.ā€ I may have misunderstood the statement by taking it as if the next problem to solve would be at a maximum of 4x the difficulty of the previous.

#2698
  1. Secure Hash Algorithm SHA 256
    2.Huge number of possibilities and highly unlikely for 2 people to get the same result
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#2699

Thanksā€¦

I was under the impression that BTC used SHA256ā€¦ I can understand changing ETH and others, could that be changed for BTC?

Cheers

#2700

Yes Bitcoin uses SHA256 and it can be changed just like in any other currency. It would be more difficult due to being more mature and less agile when it comes to changes. Thatā€™s why all the forks are happening because the core implementation refuses to change.
Its good on one side because it makes it more stable and bad because there arenā€™t many new features developed on Bitcoinā€¦kind of a double edged sword. :slight_smile:

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#2701
  1. SHA-256
  2. Because it is irreversible and each hash is unique and there is no way to guess the input.
1 Like
#2702
  1. What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?
    Answer: SHA-256
  2. Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?
    Answer: The statistical probability of crunching enough numbers to brute-force it is mathematically ā€˜possibleā€™ but practically impossible with todayā€™s technology due to the shear numbers of possibilities
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#2703

  1. SHA-256

  2. Because itā€™s impossible to obtain the input from the output by reversing the function - itā€™s a one-way function. To hack it would require finding the original input which has such an extremely low probability that itā€™s vritually impossible.

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#2704

  1. What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?
    Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA-256)

  2. Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?
    The hash algorithm is a one-way process. It is so hard to generate the previous input using the output, itā€™s nearly impossible.

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#2705
  1. What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?

SHA-256

  1. Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?

It seems almost impossible to find the input data based on the output. You cannot reverse the output function to get the input.

1 Like
#2706

  1. SHA-256

  2. The hashing algorithm is only solved in a linear, unidirectional manner. Once a hash is created the process cannot be reversed to reproduce the same hash.

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#2707
  1. SHA-256
  2. It is almost impossible to brute force because you cannot take the output and find out what the input was due to the linear (one-way) mathematics. Basically it is (nearly) impossible to reverse.
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#2708

1-SHA 256
2-The one way function of SHA-256 makes it extremely difficult to reverse the output to find out the input.

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#2709
  1. What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?
  • Secured Hash algorithm - SHA-256
  1. Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?
  • the one-way mechanism through intricate mathematical equation do not allow to reverse the hash created. its unidirectional
2 Likes
#2710

Answers

  1. The Hashing algorithm used in Bitcoin is called Secure Hash Algorithm 256 also referred to as SHA-256.

  2. The technology/system behind the SHA-256 is nearly impossible to brute force because the SHA-256, which is a ā€œuniversal translator for computersā€ is capable of receiving data in any form and ā€œtranslatingā€ this data into a 256-bit alphanumeric string. Essentially making it a ā€œone-way valveā€ that outputs a cryptographic hash, with distinctly unique features preventing access to the raw data. Resulting in the hash only being solved in a linear manner.

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#2711

What is the hashing algorithm called used in Bitcoin?
SHA-256:
Contrary to what some might think, this algorithm that uses proof-of-work (PoW) function was not invented by the creator(s) of Bitcoin, aka Satoshi Nakamoto, but by the National Security Agency (NSA) within the USA.

Why is this hashing algorithm really hard (almost impossible) to brute-force?

The output of the function is called a hash. A hash is the cryptographic result of a hash algorithm.

A universal translator (hash algorithm) receives any form /size of data, and translates into an alphanumeric string (Hash) of a certain size, include the 64-bit, 128-bit and the 256-bit, yet is not possible to do, in reverse.

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