Finance & Economics / Blockchain & Crypto

ECDSA Curve Calculator

ECDSA & Elliptic Curves

What is ECDSA?

Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) is used to create digital signatures in cryptocurrencies. It provides strong security with smaller key sizes compared to RSA.

How It Works:

  1. Generate a random 256-bit private key
  2. Multiply by curve's generator point → public key
  3. Sign message: hash(message) + private key → signature (r, s)
  4. Verify: use public key to verify signature is valid

Curve Comparison:

CurveSpeedSecurityNotes
secp256k1FastVery StrongStandard for Bitcoin/Ethereum
secp256r1FastVery StrongNIST standard, government use
Ed25519FastestVery StrongModern, performance-focused

Why Elliptic Curves?

  • Smaller keys: 256-bit ECC ≈ 3072-bit RSA security
  • Faster: Quicker signature generation/verification
  • Less bandwidth: Smaller signatures and keys
  • Battery friendly: Important for mobile devices

🔐 Security Considerations:

  • Private key must be truly random (use cryptographically secure RNG)
  • Never reuse nonce (k) value - leads to private key recovery!
  • Deterministic signatures (RFC 6979) prevent nonce reuse
  • 256-bit curves provide ~128-bit security level
  • Quantum computers may break ECDSA in the future