Then we can say, even without having the devices, if the project is possible or not.
Assumption:
We have EC point addition ASICs that have the same rate like for mining (1 hash = 1 key).
Miner power consumption: 30 Ghash/Wattsec
'EC point addition ASIC' power consumption: 30 Gkeys/Wattsec
We have to calculate 2^128 keys
World power consumption: 28,000 TWatthours
https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2019/electricityResult:
We would need to calculate ~13,000 years
nearly impossible, but not impossible
if we have a rate of 1,000 keys for 1 hash with the same power consumption: 13 years
and if we have a rate of 1,000,000 keys for 1 hash: ~3 years with the power consumption of the bitcoin network (120 TWatthours)
then it would become possible
We need improved 'EC point addition ASICs'
and remember ...
The hashrate of Bitcoin was in the first year ~10 Mhash/sec and 10 years later 100 Ehash/s. If someone told us in 2009 that in 2019 the network will hash 10,000,000,000,000 times faster, what would we say? 10,000,000,000,000 more participants? No, the hardware and hardware use improved.
Edit:
Bitcoin mining energy efficiency over time - we calculate EC point additions with CPU/GPU - we need ASICs
Bitcoin mining energy efficiency over time. The y-axis represents bitcoin mining energy efficiency in units of Watts per GH/s on a logarithmic scale. The x-axis represents time, beginning with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009. Mining technology regimes are indicated as well.
Edit:
We have received a DM that "The EC operations are several orders of magnitude more expensive than hashing."