Who generates the nonce? What makes it random? How is nonce-guessing important to the competitive process of mining? What happens if the hashing algorithm (SHA-256) was compromised? Is quantum computing a threat?

More on nonces and the mining process: https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook/blob/8ae3c056fb257111bda8883d9d204e8476f9870c/ch09.asciidoc

More about the SHA-1 collision: https://security.googleblog.com/2017/02/announcing-first-sha1-collision.html

More about SHA-1 and Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/75135/is-sha-1-used-in-bitcoin

CORRECTION: At 5:53, I described what a collision was. However, the definition I outlined was actually for a pre-image attack, which is distinct from collision attacks. The subtitles have been edited to include the correction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preimage_attack

These questions are from the MOOC 7.2 and 9.2, which took place on February 26th 2017 and February 23rd 2018 respectively. Andreas is a teaching fellow with the University of Nicosia. The first course in their Master of Science in Digital Currency degree, DFIN-511: Introduction to Digital Currencies, is offered for free as an open enrollment MOOC course to anyone interested in learning about the fundamental principles.

If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

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Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Money-collection-Andreas-Antonopoulos/dp/1537000454/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

[NEW] THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://www.amazon.com/Internet-Money-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/194791006X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

MASTERING BITCOIN: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Bitcoin-Unlocking-Digital-Cryptocurrencies/dp/1449374042

[NEW] MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Bitcoin-Programming-Open-Blockchain/dp/1491954388

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21 COMMENTS

  1. is zero the hardest to find? does the machine tries zero after trying all other digits? could it as well be "111111111ojefenvie……" or "99999999kjsfnkjasdf…."?(for other algorythms for example) or not? does it even matter?

  2. My only tie up so far is if someone can generate a private key on their computer with a vanity gen why can’t someone run it on a powerful computer to guess and test private keys? I know people say it’s takes long cause the probability of guessing is lower than guessing bill gates routing and account number, but that doesn’t matter. The computers doing the “work” and with more and more wallets being created its going to be easier to guess one- correct?

  3. Andreas you are one of the very few who have stayed true to the decentralized bitcoin protocol. Please brother please many many people are thankful for your persistence against centralized blockchains and your services for equality through consensus based systems. Thank you my friend karma always rewards those in the end

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