Asymmetric cryptography is one of the most important computer science inventions of the previous century. It also lies at the heart of all blockchain technology. In this post we’ll take a deeper look at how Ethereum uses the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) to validate the origin and integrity of messages.

Encryption techniques like ECDSA are also essential in securely extending existing blockchains. We’ve seen this in my past post analyzing decentralized exchanges where a DEX uses signatures in it’s offchain communication. …

Most of the world’s cryptocurrency trading is done through centralized exchanges such as Coinbase/GDax, Binance, Bittrex, etc. These exchanges manage a person’s capital (and private keys) and facilitate trading. In the past weeks and years there have been some high profile hacks in which a large amount of funds were stolen. It is unlikely that this problem will get solved anytime soon and I would argue that the problem will only get worse. The increase of software and hardware complexity will result in more severe security vulnerabilities such as the recent Meltdown and Spectre exploits in Intel’s CPU firmware.

Decentralized…

It’s been ages since I’ve written my last blog post. Sometimes life takes you in a new direction and with it, old habits change.

Since I was last writing, I’ve moved to a new continent, started a new company, got married and became the father of two beautiful children. After having lived in Amsterdam and Tokyo, I am now a happy resident of California and have been for the past three years.

But as always, change — a constant in my life — is in the air. There are many exciting things happening around me and I want to start…