How long it would take to guess or brute force all private keys in a 12 and 24 word seed phrase?
A terahash (TH) is 1 trillion hashes, or 10^12 hashes. That’s 1,000,000,000,000 hash/second. An exahash (EH) is a million trillion, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 hash/second.
As of November 30, 2024, the Bitcoin network's total hashrate was approximately 833.91 million terahashes per second (TH/s), or 833.91 exahashes per second (EH/s).
This immense computational power is a testament to the network's security and the miners' dedication. However, hashrate estimates can vary across sources due to differing calculation methodologies. For instance, on November 29, 2024, another source reported the hashrate at 677.84 EH/s.
These discrepancies highlight the challenges in pinpointing an exact figure, but the consensus is clear: the Bitcoin network is more robust than ever.
A terahash (TH) is 1 trillion hashes, or 10^12 hashes. That’s 1,000,000,000,000 attempts at solving a Bitcoin block puzzle per second. If you’re wondering, yes, it’s a lot—but in Bitcoin mining, it’s just another day at the digital coalface. ⛏️
The current total hashrate of 833 exahashes per second (EH/s) means the Bitcoin network is crunching through approximately 833 million trillion hashes every second. That’s 833 x 10^18 hashes per second. It's like the entire network collectively saying, "Is it this one? Nope. Is it this one? Nope..." a few sextillion times every second. And people thought Bitcoin was just internet money. 😏
Let's imagine, if 833 million trillion hashes every second is used to guess a private key, let's say it can guess 833 million trillion private keys per second, how long it would take for it to search through the entire possible private and public key pairs in a 12 word seed phrase and 24 word seed phrase?
Alright, buckle up for some math wizardry! A 12-word seed phrase (128 bits) generates 2^128 possible private keys, while a 24-word seed phrase (256 bits) generates 2^256. Let’s compute the time it would take to brute-force them at various computational powers, assuming 833 EH/s (8.33 x 10^20 hashes per second) as the starting point.
Key Stats
Total keyspace (12-word seed): 2^128 approx 3.4 times 10^38 keys
Total keyspace (24-word seed): 2^256 approx 1.16 times 10^77 keys
Time to guess half the keyspace: Half the total time
Time to guess all the keyspace (all private keys to unlock the bitcoins)
Key Takeaways
At the current hashrate (833 EH/s), brute-forcing a 12-word seed would take longer than the age of the universe (~13.8 billion years). For a 24-word seed? It’s incomprehensibly longer—basically infinity by practical standards.
Even with sci-fi-level computational power (1 NH/s, or 10^33 hashes per second), a 24-word seed would still require trillions of trillions of years.
In short, brute-forcing Bitcoin's cryptographic keys is a game you’ll never win, no matter how much horsepower you throw at it. 🔒
A 12-word or 24-word seed phrase is like the master key to a treasure chest—in this case, your Bitcoin. It’s a human-readable way to back up the secret that controls your wallet. These words are generated by your hardware wallet when you set it up.
Here’s why they matter:
12-word seed (shorter): Still incredibly secure, like having a combination lock with 128 dials, each with billions of possible positions.
24-word seed (longer): Ultra-mega-super secure, like a combination lock with 256 dials.
If you lose your hardware wallet or it breaks, you can use this seed phrase on another wallet to recover your funds. But if anyone else gets those words, they can steal your Bitcoin faster than you can say, "Oops." That’s why you store it offline, in a safe place, and never share it with anyone—not even your dog. 🐾
Article written with the help of my custom chatGPT bot: https://chatgpt.com/g/g-iIprKu6av-nakamoto
While this article is not sponsored by any bitcoin hardware wallet manufacturers, I would like to recommend the following hardware wallets: