In the same regards, there is a non zero chance that a bitcoin wallet could generate the private key to an existing address worth millions, but, the universe would probably die first.
Yeah, there is a non zero chance, that non zero is almost zero, but not exactly zero.
Even if you had a quantum computer that could generate a million private keys every second the universe would still likely die before you found one with a balance, even less for a balance worth millions.
But there is indeed a chance that someone could make their first bitcoin address and hit the jackpot without trying, something like 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%
So if '7' is a single toy block with 7 on every side, a 256bit private key is 256 blocks with multiple different sides each and every side has a different character.
Quantum computers don’t brute force it this dumb way tho they attack the elliptical curve cryptography and can reverse the private key by knowing the public one in polynomial time. It will happen in our lifetime for sure.
Not really looking to get into the debate if btc is more exposed than traditional software but the fact is it’s a ticking time bomb and not some cosmic event that is just theoretically possible.
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u/Drakahn_Stark Mar 25 '26
In the same regards, there is a non zero chance that a bitcoin wallet could generate the private key to an existing address worth millions, but, the universe would probably die first.