Cryptography behind top 20 cryptocurrencies
Items marked with * have some additional notes, which you can display by hovering on them.
| Name | Type | Signing alg | Curve | Hash | Address encoding | Address hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | UTXO | ECDSA | secp256k1 | SHA-256 | base58, bech32 | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Ethereum | account | ECDSA | secp256k1 | Keccak-256 * | none (just hex) * | last 20B of Keccak-256 * |
| XRP | account | ECDSA * | secp256k1 * | first half of SHA-512 | base58 with different alphabet * | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Litecoin | UTXO | ECDSA | secp256k1 | SHA-256 * | base58, bech32 | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| EOS | account | ECDSA | secp256k1 | SHA-256 | none * | none * |
| Bitcoin Cash | Same as Bitcoin * | |||||
| Stellar | account | EdDSA | ed25519 | SHA-256 and SHA-512 in EdDSA * | base32 | none |
| Binance Coin | Ethereum ERC-20 token * | |||||
| Tether | Bitcoin Omni layer / Ethereum ERC-20 token | |||||
| TRON | UTXO | ECDSA | secp256k1 | SHA-256 | base58 | last 20 bytes of Keccak-256 * |
| Cardano | UTXO | EdDSA | ed25519 | none and SHA-512 in EdDSA * | base58 | none |
| Monero | UTXO * | it's complicated* | ed25519 | Keccak-256 * | base58 | Keccak-256 * |
| IOTA | UTXO | Winternitz one time signature scheme | - | Curl, Kerl * | none | Kerl |
| Dash | UTXO | ECDSA | secp256k1 | SHA-256 * | base58 | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Maker | Ethereum ERC-20 token | |||||
| NEO | account | ECDSA | secp256r1 | SHA-256 | base58 | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Ontology | account | ECDSA | nist256p1 | 3x SHA-256 | base58 | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Ethereum Classic | Same as Ethereum | |||||
| NEM | account | EdDSA | ed25519 | none and Keccak-256 in EdDSA * | base32 | Keccak-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Zcash | UTXO | ECDSA, zk-SNARKs * | secp256k1, Jubjub * | SHA-256 | base58, bech32 | SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 |
| Tezos | account | EdDSA, ECDSA * | ed25519, secp256k1, secp256r1 | BLAKE2 and SHA-512 in EdDSA * | base58 | BLAKE2 |
Notes
Items marked with * have some additional notes, which you can display just by hovering on them.
- [1]: The Keccak hash function has won the SHA-3 competition and is thus the underlying hash function in SHA-3.
However, some modifications had been introduced in the final stage of standardization, which lead to two
very similar but yet different hash functions with completely different outputs. Keccak: as introduced
by its authors; SHA-3: as standardized in FIPS-202.
Many cryptocurrencies (such as Ethereum) chose SHA-3 for their hashing algorithm, but did so before the standard was finalised.
This resulted in them using the Keccak function instead of what is now considered as SHA-3.
Source: Wikipedia, Ethereum SE, Ethereum yellow paper - [2]: EdDSA hashes the message internally before signing and this function can be chosen. The default is
SHA-512. Some cryptocurrencies are leaving this up to the EdDSA algorithm exclusively and do not hash the message
beforehand. Others do. This summary tries to list both, the "outter" hash that is used before inserting it into the algorithm
and also the EdDSA's internal one.
Source: RFC 8032 - [3]: Monero transactions are based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography using curve Ed25519, but transaction inputs are signed
with so-called Multilayered Linkable Spontaneous Anonymous Group signatures (MLSAG), and output amounts (communicated to recipients via ECDH)
are concealed with Pedersen commitments and Borromean ring signatures (later replaced with Bulletproofs).
Source: From Zero To Monero, Ring confidential transactions, Confidential transactions, Borromean ring signatures, Bulletproofs - [4]: Vulnerabilities were found in the Curl hash function, causing several dispute between IOTA
engineers and some cryptographers.
Source: Cryptographic vulnerabilities in IOTA, IOTA Vulnerability Report
Columns description
- Type: Whether the cryptocurrency is based on the UTXO model or not. Transactions in the UTXO model always spend the whole input, with some of the coins returned as a change. In account-based model, there is no such mechanism and just a simple account book is used.
- Signing algorithm: What signing algorithm is being used, all present cryptocurrencies use Elliptic Curve Cryptography.
- Curve: What elliptic curve is being used in the underlying signing algorithm.
- Hash: What hash function is being used to hash the transaction data that are then signed.
- Address encoding: What algorithm is being used to encode the address.
- Address hash: What hash function is being used for addresses.