# The Difference Between Hashing and Encryption

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Since hash functions are a type of cryptographic primitive -- i.e., some of the building blocks used to encrypt messages and data -- the **concepts of hashing and encryption are often conflated**. However, they are not the same. The three main differences between hashing and encryption are as follows:

1. **Hash functions don't care about data loss:**\
   \
   A hash function produces a fixed-length output in clear text because it’s nothing more than a unique digital fingerprint and data loss is not a concern. **In contrast,** encryption encodes and preserves input messages.<br>
2. **Hash functions are not reversible:**\
   \
   A hash function is a one-way function that does not need to be reversed. In fact, it's important it's not reversible. **In contrast**, it's crucial the intended recipient of an encrypted message is able to reverse the encryption process in order to decrypt the message so they can read it.<br>
3. **Hash functions have a collision risk:**\
   \
   A hash function has a collision risk. Due to the fixed length of message digests, it's possible for two different input values to produce the same digest. Bitcoin uses hash functions like SHA-256 and RIPEMD-160 because they greatly reduce the risk of collisions, yet, although they're probabilistically insignificant, they can still theoretically happen.\
   \
   **In contrast,** since encryption preserves 100% of the input message, each encrypted message produces a unique output so there's no collision risk.


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