<blockquote>
  <p>Any bitcoin address eventually use its public key when spending its BTC. And as we all know, bitcoin address is produced from a public key by utilizing one way function. What is advantage of using bitcoin address ?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This keeps the public key private until the <em>spending</em> of funds. This means you have a higher degree of privacy than you would if that public key was displayed on the blockchain the entire time.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Does it make any address anonymous till spending BTCs ?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The public key is not revealed until spending when using a P2SH/P2PKH/P2WPKH </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>While the block-chain size increases over the time, there are lots of
  public keys available, and some fraudulent person maybe try to
  estimate private key by enabling brute-force method. Does it make any
  disadvantage or cause extra risks the whole system ?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There would have to be some serious advances in quantum computing for this to be feasible. However, this is why we recommend you do not reuse public keys when accepting Bitcoin payments. </p>

<p>As a side note, a downside to ushing pay-to-pub-keyhash schemes is that is requires an extra 20 bytes (in the case of P2PKH) on the blockchain. This adds up over time. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T23:28:43.100Z
"This means you have a higher degree of privacy than you would if that public key was displayed" How so? A public key hash is just as good an identifier as the public key itself.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-09T14:34:53.963Z
@PieterWuille True, I guess I was thinking of privacy of the key pair.
Chris Stewart
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-08T22:20:19.187Z
2016-12-08T22:20:19.187Z
Chris Stewart
<ul>
<li><em>Any bitcoin address eventually use its public key when spending its BTC. And as we all know, bitcoin address is produced from a public key by utilizing one way function. What is advantage of using bitcoin address ?</em></li>
</ul>

<p>A bitcoin address is not technically broadcast and included in the blockchain database until it is funded. So spending is irrellevant, because it would become public the moment it is funded. </p>

<p>Simply put, it's not "live" until it is funded. It's just a place card, if you have the private key, any funds sent to that account can be later spent, and upon funding, it would be public, regardless of whether there have been outbound transaction. </p>

<ul>
<li><em>Does it make any address anonymous till spending BTCs ?</em></li>
</ul>

<p>Spending, or Receiving, broadcasts the address with any transaction made through nodes, which confirm the transaction as valid and not duplicate. For each block that is found where the transaction you made is included, given you have included a fee which the nodes accept as "fair", is called a confirmation. </p>

<ul>
<li><em>While the block-chain size increases over the time, there are lots of public keys available, and some fraudulent person maybe try to estimate private key by enabling brute-force method. Does it make any disadvantage or cause extra risks the whole system ?</em></li>
</ul>

<p>No. There is no way, currently, for anyone to brute-force an address's private key. There are statistics and charts, but if you used the worlds fastest super computer, you would need millions, millions of years. It simply, is not feasible. Quantum computing could change that, but the reality is, quantum computing is not even yet in its infancy. (Not that we know of). It is way off in the distance, if ever. </p>

<p>That said. The reason cracking a private key from a public key is "impossible", is this:</p>

<p>Think of your Private Key as the Question. </p>

<p>Your Public Key, is the Answer. </p>

<p>It is not the other way around. </p>

<p>So if your public key is 100 (Shortened for this example) you know the answer. That is public. </p>

<p>To crack, you need to now figure out the question. </p>

<p>Is the question What is 10x10?  Or 1x100? Or 101-1? </p>

<p>Simply, there are far too many possibilities, in terms of questions, to any "answer". Cracking, brute-force, I don't think so. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-09T13:28:18.530Z
I don't get your first point. Is it possible that you're mixing up addresses and public keys?
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-09T08:50:24.420Z
2016-12-09T08:50:24.420Z
McFlySoHigh
<ol>
<li>Any bitcoin address eventually use its public key when spending its BTC. And as we all know, bitcoin address is produced from a public key by utilizing one way function. What is advantage of using bitcoin address ? </li>
<li>Does it make any address anonymous till spending BTCs ?</li>
<li>While the block-chain size increases over the time, there are lots of public keys available, and some fraudulent person maybe try to estimate private key by enabling brute-force method. 
Does it make any disadvantage or cause extra risks the whole system ?</li>
</ol>

<transactions><blockchain><address><private-key><public-key>
As the number of Public keys available in BlockChain increases, does it cause extra risks for private key's security?
carkaci
# As the number of Public keys available in BlockChain increases, does it cause extra risks for private key's security?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-08)

1. Any bitcoin address eventually use its public key when spending its BTC. And as we all know, bitcoin address is produced from a public key by utilizing one way function. What is advantage of using bitcoin address ?
2. Does it make any address anonymous till spending BTCs ?
3. While the block-chain size increases over the time, there are lots of public keys available, and some fraudulent person maybe try to estimate private key by enabling brute-force method.
   Does it make any disadvantage or cause extra risks the whole system ?

**Tags:** transactions, blockchain, address, private-key, public-key


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-12-08. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

> Any bitcoin address eventually use its public key when spending its BTC. And as we all know, bitcoin address is produced from a public key by utilizing one way function. What is advantage of using bitcoin address ?

This keeps the public key private until the *spending* of funds. This means you have a higher degree of privacy than you would if that public key was displayed on the blockchain the entire time.

> Does it make any address anonymous till spending BTCs ?

The public key is not revealed until spending when using a P2SH/P2PKH/P2WPKH

> While the block-chain size increases over the time, there are lots of
> public keys available, and some fraudulent person maybe try to
> estimate private key by enabling brute-force method. Does it make any
> disadvantage or cause extra risks the whole system ?

There would have to be some serious advances in quantum computing for this to be feasible. However, this is why we recommend you do not reuse public keys when accepting Bitcoin payments.

As a side note, a downside to ushing pay-to-pub-keyhash schemes is that is requires an extra 20 bytes (in the case of P2PKH) on the blockchain. This adds up over time.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: "This means you have a higher degree of privacy than you would if that public key was displayed" How so? A public key hash is just as good an identifier as the public key itself.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 True, I guess I was thinking of privacy of the key pair.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-12-09. Score: 1

* *Any bitcoin address eventually use its public key when spending its BTC. And as we all know, bitcoin address is produced from a public key by utilizing one way function. What is advantage of using bitcoin address ?*

A bitcoin address is not technically broadcast and included in the blockchain database until it is funded. So spending is irrellevant, because it would become public the moment it is funded.

Simply put, it's not "live" until it is funded. It's just a place card, if you have the private key, any funds sent to that account can be later spent, and upon funding, it would be public, regardless of whether there have been outbound transaction.

* *Does it make any address anonymous till spending BTCs ?*

Spending, or Receiving, broadcasts the address with any transaction made through nodes, which confirm the transaction as valid and not duplicate. For each block that is found where the transaction you made is included, given you have included a fee which the nodes accept as "fair", is called a confirmation.

* *While the block-chain size increases over the time, there are lots of public keys available, and some fraudulent person maybe try to estimate private key by enabling brute-force method. Does it make any disadvantage or cause extra risks the whole system ?*

No. There is no way, currently, for anyone to brute-force an address's private key. There are statistics and charts, but if you used the worlds fastest super computer, you would need millions, millions of years. It simply, is not feasible. Quantum computing could change that, but the reality is, quantum computing is not even yet in its infancy. (Not that we know of). It is way off in the distance, if ever.

That said. The reason cracking a private key from a public key is "impossible", is this:

Think of your Private Key as the Question.

Your Public Key, is the Answer.

It is not the other way around.

So if your public key is 100 (Shortened for this example) you know the answer. That is public.

To crack, you need to now figure out the question.

Is the question What is 10x10? Or 1x100? Or 101-1?

Simply, there are far too many possibilities, in terms of questions, to any "answer". Cracking, brute-force, I don't think so.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I don't get your first point. Is it possible that you're mixing up addresses and public keys?  

---

