fastecdsa
Fast elliptic curve digital signatures
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need fast ECDSA operations and can install GMP on Linux or macOS. The library is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and offers significant performance gains over pure-Python alternatives. However, the author cautions against using it for security-critical applications without additional review—use an audited library like libsodium or cryptography for production security-sensitive code. The Windows limitation and system dependency on GMP are real friction points.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires GMP library installed on system (apt-get install libgmp3-dev on Linux, brew install gmp on macOS).
- Windows is not officially supported.
- Medium friction: requires a C compiler and the GMP library (libgmp3-dev on Linux, installable via brew on macOS).
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Released into the public domain under CC0 1.0 (Unlicense). No restrictions on use, modification, or distribution for any purpose, commercial or otherwise.
last release 2025-01-28 (563 days) · last repo commit 2026-04-03 · 288 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 225,806 downloads/mo, #9,213 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install fastecdsa
from fastecdsa.curve import P256
from fastecdsa.keys import gen_keypair
private_key, public_key = gen_keypair(P256)
from fastecdsa import sign, verify
signature = sign('message', private_key, curve=P256)
verify(signature, 'message', public_key, curve=P256)- Whether the library has undergone independent security audit or formal verification beyond the author's own review.
- Current status of the performance comparison with ecdsa package (benchmarks in docs are from early 2014 MacBook Air).
- Whether custom curve construction validation has been improved since the initial warning against using them for security-critical applications.
What it is and what it does
fastecdsa is a Python wrapper around optimized C code for elliptic curve cryptography, specifically digital signatures. It supports NIST curves (P192, P224, P256, P384, P521), Certicom secp curves including secp256k1 (Bitcoin's curve), and Brainpool curves, plus arbitrary Weierstrass-form curves. The library prioritizes constant-time operations to resist timing side-channel attacks, uses RFC6979 for deterministic nonce generation, and validates all points before operating on them.
The package is designed for developers who need fast ECDSA operations and can manage the system-level dependency on GMP. It has no Python runtime dependencies and supports Python 3.9 through 3.13 on Linux and macOS. The author explicitly recommends using more established libraries for security-critical applications, positioning this as a performant option for applications where speed matters and the risk profile is acceptable.
Use it for
- Signing and verifying blockchain transactions where secp256k1 performance is critical.
- Generating and validating digital signatures in high-throughput authentication systems.
- Prototyping or benchmarking elliptic curve cryptography implementations.
- Building cryptographic protocols that require specific NIST or Brainpool curves.
- Educational exploration of constant-time ECC arithmetic and nonce-safe ECDSA.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need fast ECDSA operations and can install GMP on Linux or macOS.
The library is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, and offers significant performance gains over pure-Python alternatives. However, the author cautions against using it for security-critical applications without additional review—use an audited library like libsodium or cryptography for production security-sensitive code. The Windows limitation and system dependency on GMP are real friction points.
Install
fastecdsa on PyPI
Before you install
Medium friction: requires a C compiler and the GMP library (libgmp3-dev on Linux, installable via brew on macOS). Prebuilt wheels are available for Python 3.9–3.13 on Linux and macOS x86_64 and ARM64, but Windows is not officially supported. Active maintenance as of April 2026.
Requires GMP library installed on system (apt-get install libgmp3-dev on Linux, brew install gmp on macOS). Windows is not officially supported.
License in practice
Released into the public domain under CC0 1.0 (Unlicense). No restrictions on use, modification, or distribution for any purpose, commercial or otherwise.
Quickstart
pip install fastecdsa
from fastecdsa.curve import P256
from fastecdsa.keys import gen_keypair
private_key, public_key = gen_keypair(P256)
from fastecdsa import sign, verify
signature = sign('message', private_key, curve=P256)
verify(signature, 'message', public_key, curve=P256)Verify before relying
- Whether the library has undergone independent security audit or formal verification beyond the author's own review.
- Current status of the performance comparison with ecdsa package (benchmarks in docs are from early 2014 MacBook Air).
- Whether custom curve construction validation has been improved since the initial warning against using them for security-critical applications.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 563 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 225,806 / month, #9,213 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain DedicationOperating System :: MacOS :: MacOS XOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Security :: Cryptography |
Evidence: fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp310-cp310-macosx_13_0_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp310-cp310-macosx_14_0_arm64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp311-cp311-macosx_13_0_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp311-cp311-macosx_14_0_arm64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp311-cp311-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp312-cp312-macosx_13_0_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp312-cp312-macosx_14_0_arm64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp312-cp312-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp313-cp313-macosx_13_0_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp313-cp313-macosx_14_0_arm64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp313-cp313-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp39-cp39-macosx_13_0_x86_64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp39-cp39-macosx_14_0_arm64.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp39-cp39-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl; fastecdsa-3.0.1-cp39-cp39-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl
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