What is ECDSA?

ECDSA is the elliptic-curve signature scheme behind most Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets. It proves you hold a private key without showing it, and its security rests on the math of the secp256k1 curve.

Also called elliptic-curve signature, secp256k1 or Schnorr signature.

How wallets use it

Each wallet key pair lives on the secp256k1 curve. Signing a transaction proves you hold the private key, and the public key is then on the chain or can be recovered from the signature. Bitcoin’s Taproot uses Schnorr signatures on the same curve.

Why it could break

A large quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could recover a private key from its public key, and Justin Drake has warned that AI-driven mathematics might find a shortcut first. Either way, every public key already on the chain would be exposed.

In Redacted

Redacted’s bunker mode never derives your account from a wallet key and signs with SLH-DSA instead, so a broken wallet key does not open your private balance.

Bunker mode →

Related terms

Exposed public keyA public key is exposed once it appears on the chain, usually the first time its address signs a transaction. Until then most addresses show only a hash of the key, which gives a key-breaking attacker nothing to start from.Post-quantum cryptographyPost-quantum cryptography is cryptography built to stay secure against quantum computers, which could break the elliptic curves and RSA that most wallets and websites rely on today.SLH-DSASLH-DSA is the hash-based signature standard NIST published in 2024 as FIPS 205. It is based on SPHINCS+, and its security rests only on hash functions.Self-custodySelf-custody means you hold the keys to your funds yourself, so no company can freeze, lose or move them on your behalf.

Sources: Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm, Wikipedia · Shor’s algorithm, Wikipedia

Updated October 12, 2026. All terms