Bitcoin full node and query server
May 18, 2021
View in context in the libbitcoin Slack #general mirror.
Jay11:31
I have a newbie question related to Bitcoin Explorer.
From what I understand,
bx ec-new only accepts base16 entropy with at least 128 bits. I'm passing 1ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff hex which technically has 129 bits and yet bx ec-new complains that the argument is invalid. What am I missing? (I understand that we should be using bx seed but I'm just testing some features)
evoskuil02:45
I won’t use any system that only accepts a numeric value, or requires it to be above a certain numeric value. That simply reduces the actual entropy, as the attacker does not need to search below that value. I’ve seen such implementations in bitcoin, such as a reduction from 132 bits to 121 bits by requiring a min value simply because the internals treat the entropy as a number instead of a byte buffer.
(edited)