Bitcoin
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Base64 vs Base58 Encoding
Nov 03, 2020 by Lane WagnerBase64 is one of the most popular encoding formats for representing data. Have some binary data? Base64 encodes it for convenient readability and parsing. Base58 is just another encoding format (with 58 characters instead of 64, and has gained popularity largely due to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Also, if you came here confused, encryption and encoding are not the same! Take a look at this article for more information on encryption vs encoding.
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Elliptic Curve Cryptography: A Basic Introduction
Sep 17, 2020 by Lane WagnerElliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a modern public-key encryption technique famous for being smaller, faster, and more efficient than incumbents. Bitcoin, for example, uses ECC as its asymmetric cryptosystem because it is so lightweight. The mathematical entity that makes all of this possible is the elliptic curve, so read on to learn how these curves enable some of the most advanced cryptography in the world.
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What is SHA-256?
Jul 08, 2020 by Lane WagnerSHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2), of which SHA-256 is a part, is one of the most popular hash algorithms around. A cryptographic hash, also often referred to as a “digest”, “fingerprint” or “signature”, is an almost perfectly unique string of characters that is generated from a separate piece of input text. SHA-256 generates a 256-bit (32-byte) signature.
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Achieving Data Integrity Using Cryptography
May 04, 2020 by Lane WagnerData integrity refers to the accuracy, legitimacy, and consistency of information in a system. When a message is sent, particularly using an untrusted medium, data integrity provides us with confidence that the message wasn’t tampered with. For example, the SSL signature of Boot.dev provides confidence that the webpage and data coming from our servers are coming from us and not the NSA.
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Top 8 Online Crypto Communities
Jan 08, 2020 by Lane WagnerCrypto has been explosive in 2021. The gains have been even better than the memes! While dancing cat videos are fun, the wise will also take advantage of the various communities as an opportunity to learn more about the technology that supports decentralized money. I’ve put together a small list of the top crypto communities for you to check out this year!
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(Very) Basic Intro to Hash Functions (SHA-256, MD5, etc)
Jan 01, 2020 by Lane WagnerHash functions are used to securely store passwords, find duplicate records, quickly store and retrieve data, among other useful computational tasks. As a practical example, all user passwords on boot.dev are hashed using Bcrypt to ensure that if an attacker were ever to gain access to our database our user’s passwords wouldn’t be compromised.
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How to Secure Your Bitcoin
Aug 30, 2019 by Lane WagnerIf you’re new to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, you may have heard the common phrase not your keys not your coins. While self-custody isn’t for everyone, it’s the only way to truly have exclusive control over your funds. If that’s what you’re into, read on.
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BIP 32 Watch-Only Wallets
Jul 25, 2019 by Lane WagnerBitcoin improvement proposal 32 is, in my opinion, one of the most important BIPs we have. (Thanks Peter Wuille!) BIP 32 gave us Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets, which grant the ability to create a tree of keys from a single seed.
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Trustworthy vs Trustless Apps
Jul 23, 2019 by Lane WagnerIn the wake of the hearings about Facebook’s new Libra blockchain, it is more important than ever that we all understand the difference between trustworthy and trustless apps.