What is a crypto wallet (Private Key)?

A cryptocurrency wallet is a digital tool used to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other digital assets on a blockchain network. Despite its name, a cryptocurrency wallet doesn't actually store cryptocurrencies themselves; instead, it stores the private keys required to access and manage the cryptocurrencies associated with the wallet's addresses on the blockchain.

Think of it as a key to unlock a storage box sitting on the blockchain.

Let's take example of the Bitcoin (BTC) private key (actually most of other crypto private keys follow the same rules).

Why It’s 64 Characters Long

A Bitcoin private key is a crucial component in cryptocurrency security. It allows users to sign transactions and prove ownership of Bitcoin addresses. While the private key is typically represented as a 64-character hexadecimal string, the actual key is a 256-bit (32-byte) random number. Let’s break down why the private key is exactly 64 characters when written in hexadecimal format.

1. Understanding the Bitcoin Private Key

A Bitcoin private key is simply a random number between 1 and 2²⁵⁶ - 1 (a very large number). This number is generated using a secure cryptographic function, ensuring uniqueness and unpredictability.

Since Bitcoin private keys are 256-bit numbers, they are often represented in hexadecimal format, which is a common way of encoding binary data.

2. Binary to Hexadecimal Conversion

    •    A binary digit (bit) can be either 0 or 1.

    •    A hexadecimal digit (hex) can be 0-9 or A-F, meaning it represents 16 values (0 to 15).

    •    Each hex digit corresponds to 4 bits in binary.

Since the Bitcoin private key is 256 bits long, we can calculate its hexadecimal representation:

256 bits / 4 (bits per hex digit) = 64 hex characters

Thus, a Bitcoin private key is always 64 hexadecimal characters long.

3. Example of a Bitcoin Private Key

Example of a private key in hexadecimal format (do not use that anywhere):

Each character represents 4 bits, so the full key is 256 bits (32 bytes) in total.

4. Security Implications

    •    Since the private key is a random 256-bit number, the number of possible keys is 2²⁵⁶ (an astronomically large number).

    •    This ensures that guessing or brute-forcing a private key is practically impossible.

Security is a critical aspect of all crypto wallets since anyone with access to the private keys can control the associated cryptocurrency. Never ever expose the private key of any wallet without a very good reason and knowledge about what you are doing. For most of the users this means they will never ever have to export private keys.

5. Backup

It's essential to back up the private keys associated with a crypto wallet. Losing access to the private keys means losing access to the cryptocurrency stored in the wallet permanently. This is why we suggest you to create multiple backups of your BC Vault wallets and store them securely. 

Since BC Vault backups are encrypted (for your protection), you have to remember your global device password+pin and wallet password+pin (if you did set them, you can leave wallet password+pin empty) that were set at the point of the backup.