<p>Both bitcoind and bitcoinj use AES-256 encryption for the private keys in their wallets (this does not mean that the wallet formats are compatible though).</p>

<p>Bitcoin-Qt is just a GUI on top of bitcoind and Multibit is using bitcoinj internally, so the same should apply to them.</p>

<p>References:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/crypter.h" rel="nofollow">comment in the bitcoind source code</a></li>
<li><a href="http://code.google.com/p/bitcoinj/wiki/WorkingWithTheWallet#Encrypting_the_private_keys" rel="nofollow">bitcoinj documentation</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-30T20:04:08.357Z
what strength of AES?
Comodore
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-30T21:34:04.470Z
If by strength you mean key length it's 256 bit in both cases.
jnnk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-01T22:35:44.520Z
ok, please add it to the post and add information how long does it take to crack it by supercomputers and how can quantum cryptography break that stuff.
Comodore
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-02T17:16:47.767Z
I don't know and I think this would be off-topic for this site. But I'm pretty sure you'll find the answer on [crypto.se].
jnnk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-30T19:28:53.503Z
2013-12-02T17:17:23.847Z
2013-12-02T17:17:23.847Z
jnnk
<p>How is wallet at official client encrypted? What encryption it use? </p>

<p>What encryption does Bitcoin-qt use and what encryption is used at Multibit?
And how strong that encryption is compared to other methods?</p>

<wallet><bitcoin-core><multibit><encryption>
How is wallet at official client encrypted? What encryption it use?
Comodore
# How is wallet at official client encrypted? What encryption it use?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-30)

How is wallet at official client encrypted? What encryption it use?

What encryption does Bitcoin-qt use and what encryption is used at Multibit?
And how strong that encryption is compared to other methods?

**Tags:** wallet, bitcoin-core, multibit, encryption


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-11-30. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Both bitcoind and bitcoinj use AES-256 encryption for the private keys in their wallets (this does not mean that the wallet formats are compatible though).

Bitcoin-Qt is just a GUI on top of bitcoind and Multibit is using bitcoinj internally, so the same should apply to them.

References:

* [comment in the bitcoind source code](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/src/crypter.h)
* [bitcoinj documentation](http://code.google.com/p/bitcoinj/wiki/WorkingWithTheWallet#Encrypting_the_private_keys)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: what strength of AES?  
> **username_1**: If by strength you mean key length it's 256 bit in both cases.  
> **username_0**: ok, please add it to the post and add information how long does it take to crack it by supercomputers and how can quantum cryptography break that stuff.  
> **username_1**: I don't know and I think this would be off-topic for this site. But I'm pretty sure you'll find the answer on [crypto.se].  

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