Quick Summary: Burner combines randomness from its hardware (TRNG), factory-generated randomness, and optionally, your input, to generate highly secure keys. This ensures that even if one source is compromised, your keys remain safe.
Burner key pairs are generated using a combination of multiple sources of entropy to ensure high levels of randomness and security. This process is crucial for protecting your cryptographic keys and, ultimately, your assets.
Entropy Sources
Burner devices use several sources of entropy during key generation:
True Random Number Generator (TRNG): Each Burner is equipped with a TRNG, which generates cryptographically secure random numbers directly on the chip. These numbers are a core input during key generation, ensuring unpredictability.
Factory-Generated Randomness: When your Burner is manufactured, the factory provides an additional source of randomness. This randomness is securely stored on the device and combined with other entropy sources during key generation.
User-Provided (Optional): During onboarding, you have the option to provide additional randomness. If you choose to do so, this input is combined with other mentioned sources to create a new, unique key pair. If no additional entropy is provided, your keys will still be highly secure, based on the TRNG and factory-generated randomness.
Keypair Structure
From the factory, every Burner includes several ECDSA keypairs generated from a combination of the mentioned entropy sources:
Primary Keypair: Used to authenticate the Burner.
Secondary Keypair: Used to verify the internal state of the Burner and attest to the keys that Burner subsequently generates.
Wallet Keypairs: Used for Burner gift card and wallet functions.
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA): ECDSA is a cryptographic algorithm that Burner uses to generate public and private key pairs. It relies on elliptic curve mathematics to create secure and efficient keys and digital signatures.
In simpler terms, ECDSA allows Burner to create keys that securely sign transactions and authenticate identities, ensuring that only you can control your assets.
How We Ensure Strong Entropy
The randomness used in key generation is critical for ensuring that your keys are secure and cannot be predicted or reverse-engineered. Burner blends all available entropy sources—TRNG, factory-generated randomness, and any optional user input—into a cryptographic hash function.
The hash function ensures that even if one entropy source were compromised, the final key would still remain secure due to the strength of the other sources. By leveraging multiple entropy sources and combining them securely, Burner ensures that your keys are as random and secure as possible.