What Is the Approximate Number of Possible Combinations in a 256-Bit Space?
The number of possible combinations is 2 to the power of 256. This is an astronomical figure, approximately 1.15 followed by 77 zeros.
To put this in perspective, it is vastly more than the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe. This sheer scale is what guarantees the security and collision-resistance of SHA-256, making brute-forcing impossible.
