Post
Topic
Board Beginners & Help
Re: The size of the private and public key sets, and collisions
by
Lieji
on 16/06/2014, 07:37:40 UTC
There are 2256 public/private key pairs.

Isn't the maximum value of private keys based on the p of secp256k1, which is  2256 - 232 - 29 - 28 - 27 - 26 - 24 - 1 ?  It's close to  2256, but not exact.  Not to be pedantic, just want to make sure my understanding is correct.

Yes, you are correct.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Private_key#Range_of_valid_private_keys
Quote
Range of valid private keys
Nearly every 256-bit number is a valid private key. Specifically, any 256-bit number between 0x1 and 0xFFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFE BAAE DCE6 AF48 A03B BFD2 5E8C D036 4141 is a valid private key.
The range of valid private keys is governed by the secp256k1 ECDSA standard used by Bitcoin.