bcrypt

Detailed Explanation

bcrypt is a Hashing algorithm specifically designed for passwords. It takes a plain-text password and transforms it into a fixed-length hash that cannot be reversed — meaning even if someone steals the hash, they can't figure out the original password.

What makes bcrypt special compared to other hashing algorithms:

• It's intentionally slow, making brute-force attacks impractical
• It includes a "salt" (random data) so identical passwords produce different hashes
• The difficulty can be increased over time as computers get faster

In Supabase, bcrypt is used automatically when users sign up. You never see or handle the hashed password — Supabase stores it securely in the auth.users table. When a user logs in, Supabase compares the hash of the entered password with the stored hash.

This is why Authentication services like Supabase are recommended over building your own: getting Encryption and hashing right is extremely difficult, and mistakes can expose user data.