I85PREP
⌘ K
BTA CBSP study materials
BTA CBSP study resources

BTA CBSP: Blockchain Architecture and Cryptography

BTA CBSP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Blockchain Architecture and Cryptography

What to Know

Candidates must reason about hash functions, digital signatures, and Merkle structures. Hash functions provide preimage resistance, second-preimage resistance, and collision resistance; block linkage depends on collision resistance, while address and commitment schemes depend on preimage properties. SHA-256 is common; Keccak variants underpin Ethereum addressing.

Signatures use asymmetric cryptography: ECDSA (secp256k1) or EdDSA. Know that signing proves possession of a private key, not identity, and that ECDSA requires unique nonces. Nonce reuse leaks the private key; this is a classic exam scenario.

Understand Merkle trees for efficient inclusion proofs and state models: UTXO (Bitcoin-like) versus account-based (Ethereum-like), each with distinct replay and double-spend considerations. Cover consensus families: proof of work, proof of stake, and BFT variants, including finality and fork-choice rules. Know that probabilistic finality differs from deterministic finality.

Also cover key derivation (BIP32/39-style hierarchical deterministic wallets), multisignature and threshold signing, and why hardware security modules or secure elements protect keys.

Traps

  • Claiming a hash collision lets an attacker reverse a hash; collisions and preimages are different attacks.
  • Confusing encryption with signing; signatures are not confidential.
  • Assuming proof of stake removes the need for key protection; validator keys are high-value targets.
  • Mixing up deterministic and probabilistic finality when a question asks about settlement assurance.

Rule of Thumb

Match the primitive to the property required: linkage needs collision resistance, commitments need hiding plus binding, authentication needs unforgeability. Worked example: two signatures sharing an ECDSA nonce reveal the private key via algebra, so nonce generation must be deterministic or from a CSPRNG.

Study Focus

Be able to explain a Merkle inclusion proof step by step and to contrast UTXO and account models for replay protection.