What is Bitcoin private key
A Bitcoin Private Key is a secret, alphanumeric password or number used to spend or send your bitcoins to another Bitcoin address. It is a 256-bit long number that is randomly generated when you create a Bitcoin wallet. The uniqueness and randomness of this private key are well-defined by cryptographic functions for security purposes 1. Here’s an example of a private key in hexadecimal format:
E9873D79C6D87DC0FB6A5778633389F4453213303DA61F20BD67FC233AA33262
Every Bitcoin address has a private key. Anyone who knows this key has full authority over that wallet. This private key allows you to sign transactions and gain access to the Bitcoin associated with the corresponding address.
Bitcoin Legacy addresses are one of the two types of addresses in the Bitcoin network. Let’s explore the differences between Legacy and SegWit addresses:
Legacy Addresses:
- Format: Legacy addresses start with the number ‘1’. For example, “1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa” is a Legacy address.
- Size: Transactions from Legacy addresses tend to be larger in size, which means they take up more block space.
- Fees: As a result, sending transactions from Legacy addresses usually incurs higher fees compared to SegWit addresses.
- Compatibility: They are compatible with all Bitcoin wallets as they have been around since the beginning of Bitcoin.
SegWit Addresses:
- Format: There are two types of SegWit addresses. One starts with ‘3’ (P2SH format), which is more common, and the other starts with ‘bc1’ (bech32 format). For example:
- SegWit address in P2SH format: “3J98t1WpEZ73CNmQviecrnyiWrnqRhWNLy”
- SegWit address in bech32 format: “bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq”
- Size: Transactions from SegWit addresses are smaller in size or, when the same size as Legacy, effectively take up less block space due to a different calculation of ‘weight’ in the block.
- Fees: As a result, sending transactions from SegWit addresses usually incurs lower fees compared to Legacy addresses. SegWit was implemented as an upgrade to the Bitcoin network to enable better scaling solutions like the Lightning Network.
- Format: There are two types of SegWit addresses. One starts with ‘3’ (P2SH format), which is more common, and the other starts with ‘bc1’ (bech32 format). For example:
Are all Bitcoin keys on this page?
Technically yes. Currently only addresses for "Legacy" are shown. On this page, you can see all Bitcoin private keys, from the beginning to the end. If you wish, you can also check their balance. Currently, only Blockchain and Blockstream APs are used.
The private keys shown are generated according to the relevant page number and work entirely on your computer. It is a client-based private key list. In order to scan all Bitcoin keys with current technology, it is necessary to go back even further, to the date when the world was first created.
Although it is theoretically possible to find a used address, it is extremely impossible. You can see why by examining the Puzzles created for Bitcoin. While the easiest puzzle right now is 66 bits, any BTC private key is 256 bits. Therefore, it is very unlikely that it will come across a used address. This page was created to prove the reliability of Bitcoin (Just like in puzzle.).
What's on this page?
The "total volume" field on the page shows how much BTC has been sent/received on the current page. The "Final balance" field shows how much Bitcoin balance is currently available. If this part is different than 0, it means that you have come across a private key with a balance on the page you are on. The "Balance check type" field allows you to choose which API balances will be checked with each page creation. If you wish, you can disable balance checking by closing this area.