I am weak and friendly

Chapter 139 The Boss Plans to Take on the World's Most Difficult Puzzle?
Before acquiring Rohan's digital wallet, Tang Yiping knew nothing about cryptocurrencies.

So he had to ask his brother "Crypto" to find out that it was cryptocurrency.

However, in the past few days, Tang Yiping has done a lot of research in order to get the money in this wallet.

There are theoretically two ways to crack this wallet.

One method is to crack the wallet's password.

This is also a method with successful real-world examples. After all, you can't stop people from using weak passwords, even for something as valuable as cryptocurrency.

No matter how high the level of encryption, if you use 123456 as your password, it will break instantly.

However, the owner of this wallet is Luo Han, a genuine algorithm expert. How could the password he designed be a weak password?

Another method is to deduce the private key from the public key.

Having the wallet file, specifically the LuoHan_Crypto.dat file, allows you to view its balance and address, and also export the public key.

However, the public and private keys are connected using an asymmetric algorithm, meaning that the public key can be derived from the private key, but the private key cannot be derived from the public key.

Specifically, this asymmetric algorithm is based on the "Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem (ECDLP)," called "Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)." It takes a point on a specific ellipse, converts it into a 256-bit binary integer, and then converts it into hexadecimal for storage (so this number is not actually 256 bits long, but 64 bits, containing many hexadecimal characters, and looks more like a set of mixed letters and numbers). This is a private key.

If this key is converted to decimal, it is 78 digits, which is frighteningly large, because the number of users of the "Survival Guide for the Weak" is only 21 digits.

Then, through an algorithm, this private key is compressed into a shorter number, which is the public key.

This compression algorithm is almost irreversible, so the public key can always be derived from the private key, but the private key cannot be derived from the public key.

In terms of computational difficulty, deriving the private key is definitely more difficult, because even with current computing power, theoretically, it would be an impossible task for humanity to complete even if the universe were to restart countless times.

But how difficult it is is hard to say.

After all, a password designed by an algorithm expert like Luo Han is not necessarily much simpler than reverse-engineering a 256-bit private key.

The difference between these two is roughly the difference between calculating until the universe is destroyed and calculating until the universe is destroyed a hundred times.

For Tang Yiping, it made no difference.

but……

When Master Tang mentioned "quantum computing," it immediately opened Tang Yiping's mind.

Hey, there's a quantum thing right here around me.

That unknown qubit...could it possibly be of some use?

Given Tang Yiping's meager knowledge, typical of a first-year university student, his understanding of "quantum computing" was limited to online promotion.

Such as solving problems that previously took millions of years to calculate in an instant.

Tang Yiping immediately began to fantasize about cracking the password of the encrypted wallet with a "snap" and then withdrawing the money from it.

I'm so excited just thinking about it!

But how do you make this?

Master Tang certainly wouldn't know, but fortunately Tang Yiping has other people he can ask.

Tang Yiping immediately ran to ask Ze Ge, "Ze Ge, do you understand quantum computing?"

Ze Ge: "??????"

“We have a quantum bit, do you remember?” Tang Yiping asked.

How could Ze Ge forget that this thing had driven them to the brink of ecstasy? If Tang Yiping hadn't written a game to trap it inside, it would probably still be residing in Tang Yiping's company's software, creating all sorts of unbelievable bugs.

"I found a Bitcoin wallet with a lot of money in it. Do you think it's possible to use qubits to crack the private key of this wallet and get the money out?"

Ze Ge: "??????"

Ze Ge's expression made it seem as if Tang Yiping was asking, "Ze Ge, can you reach out and pluck the stars from the sky?" "Ze Ge, please teach me, please teach me!"

Ze Ge reached out and patted Tang Yiping's head.

"Hirako, did you get stupid when you fell?"

"Let's not even talk about quantum computing, I don't understand it at all..." Ze Ge said helplessly, "Just to say that a quantum computer capable of cracking this level of password hasn't even been invented yet. It might not be invented for decades to come. Even the algorithm capable of cracking this level of password doesn't exist yet."

"Huh?" Tang Yiping was a little confused.

Does this mean that neither the hardware nor the software exists?

and……

"Even Brother Ze doesn't understand..." Tang Yiping said disappointedly.

Ze Ge was both amused and exasperated: "Pingzi, thank you for thinking so highly of me, but please don't flatter me to death! Nobody in the whole world understands this stuff!"

The sect's mascot was both amused and exasperated. "I'm only at the Nascent Soul stage, don't ask me questions of a sage!"
To be honest, Ze Ge has also been paying attention to quantum computing lately.

Anyone who finds a strange "qubit" in their own company's code will start paying attention to quantum computing.

Then, Ze Ge became confused.

What exactly is this thing?

Currently, quantum computers worldwide are manufactured under extremely stringent conditions, allowing only a small number of logical qubits to be produced.

This thing needs to be kept in a superposition state to perform parallel computation, needs to be entangled to be correlated with each other and accelerate the operation, and needs to maintain coherence and low noise throughout, otherwise the operation will fail.

Generally speaking, this kind of thing needs to be kept under harsh conditions, such as near absolute zero and electromagnetic shielding, to operate.

And they'll show you the relevant information all the time.

This strange quantum bit in my own home is quite something.

It can go wherever it wants and do whatever it wants.

Actually, Ze Ge thinks it shouldn't be called a quantum bit, since it has nothing to do with the quantum bit as understood by humans. It's just that Tang Yiping calls it that, and it has shown some related characteristics, so she calls it that.

"So...this method is actually not feasible?"

"Not feasible."

“I think our quantum bit is pretty impressive,” Tang Yiping said.

"If you don't believe me, you can check online or ask around; maybe someone knows more," said Brother Ze.

She was just making a casual suggestion, but Tang Yiping took it seriously.

"I'll go ask and see!"

Tang Yiping felt that the forum was full of hidden talents, and perhaps someone knew how to use quantum bits to crack the private key of a cryptocurrency wallet.

He opened the forum and posted a question: "Does anyone understand quantum computing? Is there any way to derive the private key from the public key?"

Then a reply immediately appeared below:

"Is the big boss asking us?"

"No... the boss thinks too highly of us."

"Wow, exciting! Is the big shot planning to tackle the world's most difficult puzzle? I've been fed up with cryptocurrencies for ages! I haven't even gotten involved and they're already rising so fast! I beg you, big shot, to take down cryptocurrencies!"

Chen Yanxing is currently paying close attention to Tang Yiping's movements. After seeing this post, he replied with: "Let's wait and see."

Then he quickly ran to empty his cryptocurrency account.

(End of this chapter)