The post An INSECURE Python Library That Makes Bitcoin Safer appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Until now, every Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) that needed cryptographic primitives had to reinvent the wheel. Each one came bundled with its own custom Python implementation of the secp256k1 elliptic curve and related algorithms, each subtly different from one another. These inconsistencies introduced quiet liabilities and made reviewing BIPs unnecessarily complicated. This problem was recently highlighted in Bitcoin Optech Newsletter #348, and it’s something at least a handful of developers in the Bitcoin development community have long felt: there should be a unified, reusable standard for cryptographic BIP reference secp256k1 code. Last week, Jonas Nick and Tim Ruffing of Blockstream research and Sebastian Falbesoner made big progress towards this. As part of their existing ChillDKG proposal, the team released secp256k1lab. A new, intentionally INSECURE Python library for prototyping, experimenting, and BIP specifications. It’s not for production use (because it’s not constant-time and therefore vulnerable to side-channel attacks), but it fills a critical gap: it offers a clean, consistent reference for secp256k1 functionality, including BIP-340-style Schnorr signatures, ECDH, and low-level field/group arithmetic. The goal is simple: make it easier and safer to write future BIPs by avoiding redundant, one-off implementations. For BIP authors, this means: less custom code, fewer spec issues, and a clearer path from prototype to proposal. > Why Not Just Use the Real secp256k1 Library? Bitcoin Core already includes a fast, constant-time C library for secp256k1 cryptography. So why don’t BIP authors just use that? When a BIP author submits a proposal, they are expected to include a reference implementation to explain how the idea works. These implementations do not have to be written in Python, but C is often too low-level for prototyping. Python is easier to read, easier to modify, and makes it clearer what the author is trying to express. These qualities make it especially…

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Filed under: News - @ April 23, 2025 5:25 pm