--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think people don't realise that running…" description: "\"I think people don't realise that running a piece of code that verifies some conditions for a financial transaction, that by itself is a lot less work ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/vitalik-buterin-20983_computers_i-think-people-don-t-realise-that-runnin_810499.jpg" --- # I think people don't realise that running a piece of code… ![“I think people don't realise that running a piece of code that verifies some conditions for a financial transaction, that by itself is a lot less work than verifying a cryptographic signature, and so even if the virtual machine is inefficient, the cryptographic signature is still going to dominate.” quote by Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/vitalik-buterin-20983_computers_i-think-people-don-t-realise-that-runnin_810499.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/vitalik-buterin-20983_computers_i-think-people-don-t-realise-that-runnin_810499.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d2/vitalik-buterin-20983_computers_i-think-people-don-t-realise-that-runnin_810499.jpg) > “I think people don't realise that running a piece of code that verifies some conditions for a financial transaction, that by itself is a lot less work than verifying a cryptographic signature, and so even if the virtual machine is inefficient, the cryptographic signature is still going to dominate.” [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Verifying a cryptographic signature is computationally heavier than checking transaction conditions, so signature verification dominates performance costs. **In simple terms:** Signature checks cost more than logic checks. Key Takeaway Optimize signature verification for efficiency. Themes cryptography performance blockchain Mood technical analytical Type explanatory educational When to use this quote - smart contract design - transaction processing - resource budgeting Key Concepts computational complexity security Questions to Reflect On - Can alternative signature schemes reduce overhead? - How does signature cost affect user fees? A Different Perspective Even efficient code can be bottlenecked by heavy cryptographic work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement and the ability to create something which is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schmidt/bitcoin-is-a-remarkable-cryptographic-achievement-and-the-ability-to/) [Eric Schmidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schmidt/) > [Humans are incapable of securely storing high-quality cryptographic keys, and they have unacceptable speed and accuracy when performing cryptographic operations. 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As it turns out, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/initially-i-thought-that-ethereum-was-a-thing-that-would-be-used-for/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [The industrial revolution allowed us, for the first time, to start replacing human labour with machines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/the-industrial-revolution-allowed-us-for-the-first-time-to-start/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [The thing that I often ask startups on top of Ethereum is, 'Can you please tell me why using the Ethereum blockchain is better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/the-thing-that-i-often-ask-startups-on-top-of-ethereum-is-can-you/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [When I came up with Ethereum, my first first thought was, 'Okay, this thing is too good to be true.' As it turned out,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/when-i-came-up-with-ethereum-my-first-first-thought-was-okay-this/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [Scalability is this idea of coming up with a blockchain that can scale much larger than existing chains essentially by processing transactions in parallel.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/scalability-is-this-idea-of-coming-up-with-a-blockchain-that-can/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [In order to have a decentralised database, you need to have security. 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Instead of putting the taxi driver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/whereas-most-technologies-tend-to-automate-workers-on-the-periphery/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [The technical side of Ethereum's efficacy is 100% an engineering exercise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/the-technical-side-of-ethereum-s-efficacy-is-100-an-engineering/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [The main advantage of blockchain technology is supposed to be that it's more secure, but new technologies are generally hard for people to trust,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/the-main-advantage-of-blockchain-technology-is-supposed-to-be-that-it/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) > [The Ethereum client is literally a fork of Chromium's webkit backend. The idea is that users can build their own interfaces with HTML/JavaScript just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vitalik-buterin/the-ethereum-client-is-literally-a-fork-of-chromium-s-webkit-backend/) [Vitalik Buterin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) [Explore all 30 Vitalik Buterin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vitalik-buterin/) ## More Computers quotes > [I don't understand why we're all connected wirelessly via a little machine that goes in our pocket, to everybody in the world, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-m-chu/i-don-t-understand-why-we-re-all-connected-wirelessly-via-a-little/) [Jon M. Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-m-chu/) > [“Probably it goes without saying, but time machine guys don't get a lot of action. 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