At that time maybe cryptocurrency not exist
who knows
Topic: What if someone generates the same address/key as you? - page 2. (Read 2230 times)
At that time maybe cryptocurrency not exist
who knows
Answer is simply No.
I remember a calculation of the likelyhood of that happening. IIRC a collision (2 identical private keys generated) is as likely as winning the lottery jackpot after getting struck by lighning 17 days in a row and surviving.
lucky bastard
I think moat people understand it will take billions of years to brute force an address, but it is still an extremely thin chance someone else can generate a key to your address. It just makes you feel insecure.
If you understand how incredibly low the chance is, you shouldn't feel insecure.
Here is what DannyHamilton responded to a very similar question a few months ago.
It is also possible that all the air in the room will spontaneously collect in one corner suffocating everyone in the room. The chance is extremely low, so low it is like impossible, but extremely low chance does not equal impossible.
Now ask any lay person if they think that it is possible for all the air in the room to suddenly collect tightly in a corner leaving everyone to suffocate, and we'll see if "impossible" in general use means what you think it means.
Now ask any lay person if they think that it is possible for all the air in the room to suddenly collect tightly in a corner leaving everyone to suffocate, and we'll see if "impossible" in general use means what you think it means.
EDIT: Oops, DannyHamilton mentioned that analogy faster than me.
IT would take millions of years even with some of the best hardware 
No.
It would take billions of years.
it is still an extremely thin chance someone else can generate a key to your address.
The word "extremely" doesn't explain how unlikely it is. It's like saying that there is an extremely thin chance that all the air molecules in the room could spontaneously collect in one corner and suffocate me to death, so I feel insecure in all rooms.
It just makes you feel insecure.
Only if you have a poor understanding of probability and very large numbers.
IT would take millions of years even with some of the best hardware
I think moat people understand it will take billions of years to brute force an address, but it is still an extremely thin chance someone else can generate a key to your address. It just makes you feel insecure.
It could happen but the chances are very small.
There are a few people who are trying to get the same wallet but it takes years.
There are a few people who are trying to get the same wallet but it takes years.
Thanks guys for your patience.
First of all, does every public key have a corresponding private key or can more than one public key correspond to just one private key?
Could you not generate the same key as someone else by fluke? What happens if someone sends bitcoins to this key?
Could you not generate the same key as someone else by fluke? What happens if someone sends bitcoins to this key?
I am assuming that u r in a room now. All the air molecules in that room may get condensed at a corner of the room suffocating U to death. By second law of thermodynamics, it may happen. But is it happening ? U'll be surprised to know, there is more possibility of this to take place than the address collision u r assuming...
I remember a calculation of the likelyhood of that happening. IIRC a collision (2 identical private keys generated) is as likely as winning the lottery jackpot after getting struck by lighning 17 days in a row and surviving.
Another is: chance to find a hidden buckyball within the earth when randomly selecting a buckyballsize piece of it.
Or finding a specific water molecule in all watersources on earth (which actually is several times more likely)
Then there was this calculation that even counting to 2^256 with the most energy efficient machine possible according to thermodynamics would require more energy than our sun has left to give, if even you had a dysonsphere around it absorbing all of its energy.
Its the realm of likehood where all air molecules spontainiously go into a corner of the room and you suffocate
Another is: chance to find a hidden buckyball within the earth when randomly selecting a buckyballsize piece of it.
Or finding a specific water molecule in all watersources on earth (which actually is several times more likely)
Then there was this calculation that even counting to 2^256 with the most energy efficient machine possible according to thermodynamics would require more energy than our sun has left to give, if even you had a dysonsphere around it absorbing all of its energy.
Its the realm of likehood where all air molecules spontainiously go into a corner of the room and you suffocate
These have all been answered a million times before but I am in a good mood. Next time try the search function please.
BTW there is a difference between a public key and a Bitcoin addresss.
There are only 2160 possible Bitcoin addresses so for every Bitcoin address there are, on average, 296 matching key pairs. But have no fear. It is still, for all practical purposes, given good random number generation, impossible to generate the same Bitcoin address twice even though there are "only" 2160 possible Bitcoin addresses.
First of all, does every public key have a corresponding private key or can more than one public key correspond to just one private key?
Every public key is calculated directly from its corresponding private key. There are slightly less than 2256 possible public/private key pairs.Could you not generate the same key as someone else by fluke?
There are so many possible key pairs that it is, for all practical purposes, impossible to randomly generate any one of the key pairs that has been generated before. Your next thought is "well is it possible, right?" the next answer is "it is impossible for the human brain to begin to comprehend how large the number 2256 is, yes it may be mathematically possible but it is practically impossible given the lifetime of the universe, etc."BTW there is a difference between a public key and a Bitcoin addresss.
There are only 2160 possible Bitcoin addresses so for every Bitcoin address there are, on average, 296 matching key pairs. But have no fear. It is still, for all practical purposes, given good random number generation, impossible to generate the same Bitcoin address twice even though there are "only" 2160 possible Bitcoin addresses.
What happens if someone sends bitcoins to this key?
I am not going to answer that because it is not going to happen.
First of all, does every public key have a corresponding private key or can more than one public key correspond to just one private key?
Could you not generate the same key as someone else by fluke? What happens if someone sends bitcoins to this key?
Could you not generate the same key as someone else by fluke? What happens if someone sends bitcoins to this key?
Jump to: