Android random number flaw implicated in Bitcoin thefts

Bitcoin thefts

Bitcoin is often in the news, not least because it is somewhat controversial.

It's a digital currency, backed by cryptography, not by any central issuing authority. Its "coins" are strings of bits, and anyone can generate one, given enough time (and assuming no-one else generates the same coin first). The calculations required to "mine" a Bitcoin are configured so that the complexity of finding them doubles every four years.

That means there's an exponential dropoff in the rate at which new Bitcoins appear, and that the supply is capped at 21 million Bitcoins.

The number remaining will quickly close in on zero, with 1/2 gone in 2012, 3/4 by 2016, 7/8 by 2020, and so on. By about 2030, we'll be close to that asmyptotic maximum of 21 million coins.

For what it's worth, and it is rather a lot, Bitcoin exchanges currently value each Bitcoin (BTC) around US$100.

Android random number flaw implicated in Bitcoin thefts | The Naked Security