Claude reportedly reconstructs NIST the seed-generation method for certain elliptic curves

AT A GLANCE

The report says Claude inferred the generation method for certain NIST elliptic-curve seeds, but did not crack ECDSA or discover a new mathematical vulnerability.

Article

Claude cracks a cryptographic mystery in half an hour 25-year cryptographic mystery: Why did Bitcoin not use this curve?

BlockBeats reports,October 17, Anthropic disclosed today that its internal model Claude cracked, in under half an hour, a mystery surrounding the seed generation of standard elliptic curves that had puzzled the cryptography community for approximately 25 years.NIST This finding is also closely related to the underlying security design of cryptocurrencies.ECDSA is a cryptographic standard widely used for digital signatures, with related technology supporting wallet signatures and identity verification for a large number of crypto assets. 2000 Around NIST, certain parameters of standard elliptic curves were provided by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), but the seed-generation process remained opaque for a long time, prompting speculation about potential backdoors.

Through reverse engineering, Claude found that the relevant seeds were likely generated using the pseudo-random number generator 90 from a C language library of the lrand48 s, combined with Unix timestamps, rather than from a complex, carefully designed secret algorithm. This provides a new explanation for the long-unresolved question of the origin of these parameters.

Bitcoin instead chose a different path for security reasons: Satoshi Nakamoto adopted the secp256k1 curve rather than the NIST commonly used standard curve. This choice is often discussed in the context of a lack of transparency in the standard-setting process, but it cannot simply be concluded that its sole motivation was to avoid a NSA backdoor.

It should be emphasized that Claude cracked the generation method for certain standard curve parameters, not ECDSA, and did not discover any new mathematical vulnerabilities in the relevant curves. Reconstructing the parameter-generation process helps assess backdoor speculation, but does not amount to conclusive proof that all relevant implementations are risk-free.

This test also demonstrates another aspect of AI in the crypto industry: it may not only reshape the balance of cryptographic attack and defense, but can also be used to audit historical cryptographic designs, test security assumptions, and provide new security research tools for crypto infrastructure.

Original link https://m.theblockbeats.info/flash/372332

Key points

BlockBeats said Anthropic disclosed that its internal model Claude spent less than half an hour studying an approximately 25-year-unsolved NIST standard elliptic-curve seed-generation issue.
The report states that ECDSA is widely used for digital signatures, with related technology used for wallet signatures and identity verification across many crypto assets.
The report states that around 2000 years ago,NIST certain parameters of standard elliptic curves were provided by the U.S. National Security Agency, and their seed-generation process remained opaque for a long time.
The report claims that, through reverse engineering, Claude concluded that the relevant seeds were likely generated by combining the pseudo-random number generator from a C language library of the 90 s lrand48 with Unix timestamps.
Bitcoin uses the secp256k1 curve rather than the NIST commonly used standard curve.
The report explicitly states that this finding did not constitute cracking ECDSA, nor did it identify a new mathematical vulnerability in the relevant curves.
The report notes that it cannot simply be concluded that Satoshi Nakamoto's sole motivation for choosing secp256k1 was to avoid a NSA backdoor.

AI-assisted interpretation

The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.

The parameters of elliptic curves must be generated in some manner. The finding described by the report is an inferred reconstruction of the source of seeds for certain NIST curve parameters, rather than a breach of a digital-signature algorithm. For beginners, this is more akin to investigating how the parameters of a security standard were produced at the time; it does not mean that wallet signatures have failed.

Why it matters to readers

Whether the parameter-generation process is transparent affects confidence in cryptographic standards. If this inference is verified, it could help researchers reassess longstanding backdoor speculation; the report also shows that AI may be used to audit historical cryptographic designs and test security assumptions.

Current evidence does not show that Bitcoin's secp256k1 curve,ECDSA or wallet signatures have been breached; therefore, it cannot be concluded from this that Bitcoin users need to take action.

Risks and unknowns

The materials contain only BlockBeats' account and do not provide Anthropic's original disclosure, model output, or reproducible technical details.
lrand48 It cannot be confirmed from the available evidence whether the inference that seeds were generated with Unix timestamps has been independently verified by cryptography researchers.
Explaining the origin of parameters does not prove that no backdoor exists, nor does it mean that all relevant implementations are risk-free.

Claude reportedly reconstructs NIST the seed-generation method for certain elliptic curves

Article

AI-assisted interpretation

Why it matters to readers

Risks and unknowns

Related Developments

Related concepts

Keep following

Security Center