Scrypt is a memory-hard cryptographic algorithm used for secure key generation and proof-of-work mining, designed to make large-scale brute-force [↗] or ASIC-based attacks difficult and expensive.
It was developed in 2009 by Colin Percival [↗]
"Memory-hard" means you need not only significant computing power but also a large amount of memory to carry out a brute-force attack.
This is important because certain cryptographic mechanisms are intentionally designed to require more resources than could be gained by breaking them. This makes attacks economically inefficient, thereby reinforcing the system’s security.
In the context of blockchains, the reverse principle applies: working through these complex cryptographic computations serves as proof of work, and participants are rewarded for successfully completing them, as seen in Litecoin [↗] and Dogecoin [↗].
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