<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
  <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/22/is-it-possible-to-brute-force-bitcoin-address-creation-in-order-to-steal-money">Is it possible to brute force bitcoin address creation in order to steal money?</a>  </p>
</blockquote>



<p>I've tried <a href="http://brainwallet.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">brainwallet.org</a> and now I wonder, what happens if someone starts to generate a lot of private keys and add them to his wallet (or MtGox account)? That person will eventually get somebody else's private key and be able to use his/her Bitcoins. Am I missing something?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-06T15:48:14.687Z
Assuming there are 1 million addresses with a non-zero balance, and you can import 1 million keys per second, you will on average get a hit after approximately 3.5 billion billion times the age of the universe.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-06T16:10:52.027Z
Hi Tomas and welcome! See the link now added to the OP.
D.H.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-06T17:36:10.240Z
I get a similar number to Pieter: age_of_universe = 60 * 60 * 24 * 365.25 * 14.6e9; keys_per_second = funded_addresses = 1e6; keys = 2**160; keys / keys_per_second / funded_addresses / age_of_universe -> 3.1720679605540234e+18    I expect he used something other than 14.6 billion years for the age of the universe to get his slightly higher answer.
Chris Moore
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-07T03:33:27.197Z
@ChrisMoore Thanks. Really good explanation. I just though that if BTC is the future money, billons of active addresses will be around but that is still really improbable.
Tomas
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-08T19:22:33.293Z
Even billions of active addresses is not at all a problem.
Pieter Wuille
<security><private-key><cryptography>
How secure is a private key?
Tomas
# How secure is a private key?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-08-06)

> **Possible Duplicate:**  
> [Is it possible to brute force bitcoin address creation in order to steal money?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/22/is-it-possible-to-brute-force-bitcoin-address-creation-in-order-to-steal-money)

I've tried [brainwallet.org](http://brainwallet.org) and now I wonder, what happens if someone starts to generate a lot of private keys and add them to his wallet (or MtGox account)? That person will eventually get somebody else's private key and be able to use his/her Bitcoins. Am I missing something?

**Tags:** security, private-key, cryptography

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Assuming there are 1 million addresses with a non-zero balance, and you can import 1 million keys per second, you will on average get a hit after approximately 3.5 billion billion times the age of the universe.  
> **username_2**: Hi username_0 and welcome! See the link now added to the OP.  
> **username_3**: I get a similar number to Pieter: age_of_universe = 60 * 60 * 24 * 365.25 * 14.6e9; keys_per_second = funded_addresses = 1e6; keys = 2**160; keys / keys_per_second / funded_addresses / age_of_universe -> 3.1720679605540234e+18    I expect he used something other than 14.6 billion years for the age of the universe to get his slightly higher answer.  
> **username_0**: @ChrisMoore Thanks. Really good explanation. I just though that if BTC is the future money, billons of active addresses will be around but that is still really improbable.  
> **username_1**: Even billions of active addresses is not at all a problem.  

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## 0 answers

