tiny-secp256k1

What is tiny-secp256k1?

The tiny-secp256k1 npm package is a small, fast, and reliable library for elliptic curve cryptography using the secp256k1 curve. It is commonly used in blockchain and cryptocurrency applications, particularly for Bitcoin, to perform cryptographic operations such as key generation, signing, and verification.

What are tiny-secp256k1's main functionalities?

Key Generation

This feature allows you to generate a private key and derive the corresponding public key using the secp256k1 curve.

const secp256k1 = require('tiny-secp256k1');
const randomBytes = require('crypto').randomBytes;

const privateKey = randomBytes(32);
const publicKey = secp256k1.pointFromScalar(privateKey);
console.log('Private Key:', privateKey.toString('hex'));
console.log('Public Key:', publicKey.toString('hex'));

Signing a Message

This feature allows you to sign a message using a private key. The message is hashed using SHA-256 before signing.

const secp256k1 = require('tiny-secp256k1');
const randomBytes = require('crypto').randomBytes;
const createHash = require('crypto').createHash;

const privateKey = randomBytes(32);
const message = 'Hello, world!';
const messageHash = createHash('sha256').update(message).digest();
const signature = secp256k1.sign(messageHash, privateKey);
console.log('Signature:', signature.toString('hex'));

Verifying a Signature

This feature allows you to verify a signature using a public key. The message is hashed using SHA-256 before verification.

const secp256k1 = require('tiny-secp256k1');
const createHash = require('crypto').createHash;

const publicKey = Buffer.from('your-public-key-hex', 'hex');
const message = 'Hello, world!';
const messageHash = createHash('sha256').update(message).digest();
const signature = Buffer.from('your-signature-hex', 'hex');
const isValid = secp256k1.verify(messageHash, publicKey, signature);
console.log('Is the signature valid?', isValid);

Other packages similar to tiny-secp256k1

elliptic

The elliptic package is a comprehensive library for elliptic curve cryptography that supports multiple curves, including secp256k1. It is more feature-rich and flexible compared to tiny-secp256k1, but it is also larger in size.

secp256k1

The secp256k1 package is a native binding to the secp256k1 library used in Bitcoin Core. It offers high performance and is specifically optimized for the secp256k1 curve, similar to tiny-secp256k1, but it requires native compilation.

bitcoinjs-lib

The bitcoinjs-lib package is a full-featured library for Bitcoin-related operations, including key generation, signing, and verification using the secp256k1 curve. It provides a higher-level API compared to tiny-secp256k1.

README

tiny-secp256k1