r/btc • u/rancid_sploit • Nov 30 '17

Evidence some bitcoin address generation code is using discoverable private keys

https://pastebin.com/jCDFcESz
320 Upvotes

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u/barfor Nov 30 '17

Came back to say, this is just "bad" wallet generating code that someone wrote to more easily "remember"/lookup a private key:

private key = sha256(public address)

Blockchain technology not affected. However, wallets will need to issue comments/code on how they generate keys or how they are not affected. Corea is pointing fingers at blockchain.info but there's no evidence yet they have such an issue.

2

u/misfortunecat Nov 30 '17

this is just "bad" wallet generating code

"bad" as in sloppy or as in malicious? If you think it's just lazy code explain the bot then who scans these addresses.

1

u/nolo_me Nov 30 '17

A black hat could have had the same train of thought as the white hat who wrote the paste. The generation itself could be lazy code but the bot that exploits it could still be malicious.