Bitcoin: Can I decrypt the internal key using an optimized public key and the optimization token BIP341?

Can you extract internal keys from Bitcoin tweaks?

The world of Bitcoin tweaks is a complex and often misunderstood subject. One of the most fascinating aspects of this field is extracting internal keys from tweaked public keys using various cryptographic techniques.

In this article, we will explore the concept of internal keys in Bitcoin, examine how to tweak them, and explore the feasibility of extracting them using specific tweaks like bip341.

Internal Keys of Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s underlying protocol does not store private keys directly. Instead, each user has a pair of public and private keys: a “user key” and an “internal key.” The internal key is not publicly accessible and serves as the private component of the user key. It is used for cryptographic operations such as signing transactions.

When a user generates a new transaction or spends their existing coins, they are essentially using their private key (internal) with their public key (user). This ensures secure communication between wallets and prevents anyone else from accessing the internal keys.

Public Key Optimization

Optimizations are changes to a public key that enable Bitcoin’s cryptographic operations. These optimizations enable various functions such as spending coins, creating new addresses, or even reversing transactions. One of these optimization techniques is bip341 (Basepoint).

Bip341 optimizes an existing public key by replacing its internal key with a new one. This can be useful in certain scenarios where the original internal key is compromised or needs to be changed.

Extracting Internal Keys from Bip341 Optimizations

The question remains: can you extract the internal key from an optimized bip341 public key? To answer this, let’s examine how Bitcoin stores and uses these optimized keys.

When a user optimizes their bip341 public key using bitcoin-cli or other tools, they update the internal key. However, extracting this new internal key is not easy. Bitcoin does not provide a direct way to retrieve the original internal key from the optimized output.

The Challenges

Extracting the internal key presents several challenges:

• Optimization complexity: Bip341 optimizations involve complex cryptographic operations that can make reverse engineering the internal key difficult.

• No clear representation: Bitcoin’s optimization outputs do not provide a direct way to extract the original internal key from the optimized output.

Conclusion

While it seems impossible to extract the internal key directly from an optimized Bip341 public key, there may be alternative approaches or edge cases that we are not aware of.

However, if you want to delve further into this topic, keep in mind that Bitcoin’s design and cryptography are constantly evolving. New techniques and tools may emerge that could potentially help in extracting internal keys from optimized public keys.

If you want to exploit or reverse engineer optimized Bitcoin CLI commands for malicious purposes, proceed with caution. In most cases, it is not worth the risk, as attempting to extract internal keys can lead to significant security issues.

Final Thoughts

In summary, while we have explored how Bitcoin optimizations and bip341 work, extracting internal keys from optimized public keys remains a challenging task. As our understanding of Bitcoin’s underlying cryptographic mechanisms increases, new techniques and tools may emerge that could help us overcome these challenges.