ECDSA
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm
The signature scheme used by Bitcoin, Ethereum and most blockchains, based on elliptic curves such as secp256k1. It is not post-quantum: Shor's algorithm would recover the private key from an exposed public key.
Related terms
A quantum algorithm that factors large integers and computes discrete logarithms in polynomial time. It is the specific reason RSA, Diffie-Hellman and elliptic-curve cryptography would fail against a sufficiently large quantum computer.
Whether an address's full public key is visible on-chain. Exposure matters because quantum risk to a wallet begins only once the public key is published — before that, an attacker sees just a hash.
A fast elliptic-curve signature scheme used by Solana, IOTA and many modern systems. Like ECDSA it is classical, so it offers no protection against a cryptographically relevant quantum computer.
A value that proves a message was produced by the holder of a particular private key and has not been altered since. Signatures provide authenticity and integrity, not confidentiality.