Can any random 64 digit hex be used as a private key for Bitcoin or Ethereum?

MrFreeDragon

sr. member

Activity: 443

Merit: 350

Quote from: CounterEntropy on May 25, 2020, 02:03:09 PM

For example 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF ?

Yes, it is possible. You mentioned "random 64 digit hex" - so be sure that they are really random and not manually selected. It is important for security reason.

For example you can use dice with 16 sides, roll it 64 times and receive your random private key.

https://www.thediceshoponline.com/cat/41/sides/13/d16

o_e_l_e_o

legendary

Activity: 2268

Merit: 18586

In bitcoin, private keys range from 1 to n-1, with n being the order of the base point G for the secp256k1 curve. In simple terms, the largest valid private key (n-1) is:

Code:

FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4140

It is possible however to use private keys larger than this number, as all private keys are modulo n. The key you have given as an example leads to an address which has previously been used back in 2017: https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/1CLrrRUwXswyF2EVAtuXyqdk4qb8DSUHCX

Note that it's a terrible idea to create your own private key by manually choosing a 64 digit hexadecimal number.

CounterEntropy

full member

Activity: 214

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For example 0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF ?

Topic: Can any random 64 digit hex be used as a private key for Bitcoin or Ethereum? (Read 244 times)