EnglishEnglish中文中文اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُاَلْعَرَبِيَّةُDeutschDeutschEspañolEspañolΕλληνικάΕλληνικάFrançaisFrançaisעִבְרִיתעִבְרִיתहिन्दीहिन्दीHrvatskiHrvatskiItalianoItaliano日本語日本語한국어한국어MalayMalayNederlandsNederlandsPortuguêsPortuguêsрусскийрусскийภาษาไทยภาษาไทยTürkTürkTiếng ViệtTiếng Việt粵語粵語
Learn
FAQs
Frequently asked questions by various stakeholders
Why Classic?
Start here to get the lowdown on Ethereum Classic's reason for being and unique value proposition
Knowledge
Further reading on the foundations that underpin ETC
Videos
A collection of videos and podcasts to keep you informed on ETC concepts and happenings
Support ETC by helping to translate this website!
Ethereum Classic Blog

When Absolutely No One Can Steal Or Return Lost Ethereum Classic Funds

Christian Seberino
Education
oops
oops

People often ask the Ethereum Classic (ETC) developers to return their lost funds. Typically, no one can steal or return lost funds. This is because of private keys.

Private Key Basics

key
key

Private keys are just random numbers. All ETC user accounts are associated with unique private keys. These are needed to do nearly everything. ETC clients (wallets) typically manage user accounts and private keys for users. In my Ethereum Classic Public And Private Keys: A Little Enlightenment paper I show how to derive ETC public keys and addresses from private keys.

Private Key Security

universe
universe

If private keys are truly random, and kept private, they simply cannot be determined. Notice cryptographically secure random number generators are crucial. Some may wonder whether ETC public keys and addresses can divulge private keys. Computing private keys from ETC public keys and addresses is unimaginably difficult. It would take billions of computers longer than the age of the universe!

Private Key Possibilities

road
road

Future mathematical breakthroughs and quantum computers could conceivably jeopardize ETC private keys. However, after decades of work, these breakthroughs are still elusive.

Conclusion

impossible
impossible

The ETC system was designed to give users control over their funds. Therefore, typically no one can steal or return lost funds. So please do not ask the ETC developers to do the impossible!

Feedback

You can contact me by clicking any of these icons:

Twitter
Twitter
Facebook
Facebook
LinkedIn
LinkedIn

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong) for funding this effort.

License

0hhXr4l9ZB32NzvK1

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

This page exists thanks in part to the following contributors:


cseberino
cseberino
  • EnglishEnglish
  • 中文中文
  • اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُاَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ
  • DeutschDeutsch
  • EspañolEspañol
  • ΕλληνικάΕλληνικά
  • FrançaisFrançais
  • עִבְרִיתעִבְרִית
  • हिन्दीहिन्दी
  • HrvatskiHrvatski
  • ItalianoItaliano
  • 日本語日本語
  • 한국어한국어
  • MalayMalay
  • NederlandsNederlands
  • PortuguêsPortuguês
  • русскийрусский
  • ภาษาไทยภาษาไทย
  • TürkTürk
  • Tiếng ViệtTiếng Việt
  • 粵語粵語
Add ETC to MetaMask
The ETC community is active on Discord
Discord
Discord
ETC Coop Discord
ETC Coop Discord
eth_classic Twitter
eth_classic Twitter
ETC_Network Twitter
ETC_Network Twitter
Github
Github
ETC Labs Github
ETC Labs Github
Reddit
Reddit
This site is powered by Netlify

Learn

  • FAQs
  • Why Classic?
  • Knowledge
  • Videos

Made with <3 for the Original Ethereum Vision