What is the difference between the SHA-512 algorithm and SHA-256? (What does 256 and 512 mean?)

What is the difference between the SHA-512 algorithm and SHA-256? Editor’s note: This article is from Ju, authorized reprint from Odaily Planet Daily.

What is the difference between SHA-512 and 256?

SHA-512 is one of the maximum hash rates for Bitcoin and is currently one of the most popular algorithms.

Due to its characteristics of infinite delay, no impact on network integrity, and security, SHA-512 is much slower in terms of computation speed compared to SHA-256. According to the latest data, as of September 15, 2018, only 12 out of 64 nodes based on the Bitcoin Core development team have passed this threshold, which means that block synchronization can be achieved in about 10 minutes. This reduces the time required for transaction confirmation within 2 hours since the entire blockchain system cannot process large transactions at this time. Therefore, SHA-512 can be understood as a new type of expansion solution, which has the advantages of achieving 10 million requests per second (TPS) and extremely low Gas fees and scalability.

However, although SHA-512 has been used by many miners to mine Bitcoin, the main reason is still because it uses the SHA-256 protocol to increase computing power and reduce costs. Unlike SHA-1024, SHA-512 uses the double-spending attack technique. There are two main methods for this double-spending attack: one is to pack a specific data multiple times in a single chain and then broadcast it to all other addresses in the entire network. The other method is to use a binary random number generator to effectively express the hash value of the target block . The second uses an asymmetric encryption proof mechanism to make the number of hashes of the target block more accurate. How does SHA-512 work? In the Bitcoin community, many people believe that as the price of Bitcoin rises, more and more mining companies are considering investing a part of their computing power in production instead of betting all of it on new technologies. So if this continues, will we see more companies follow suit?

What does 256 and 512 mean?

Literally, 256 is an abbreviation for digital currency. It refers to a transaction data with a decimal point in the Bitcoin network, which includes two one-way processes: input and output.

When you understand this process as a simple “32”, it indicates that this large amount is infinitely increasing, but what if it is explained in another way? The answer is “128”. So, the meaning of 256 is 1 number, which is 2 numbers (32). And these three numbers correspond to 64-bit and 128-bit data.