The reasons for using the NIST curve might have less to do with technical merits or security aspects, and more with regulations and certifications. Certifying s

The reasons for using the NIST curve might have less to do with technical merits or security aspects, and more with regulations and certifications. Certifying something including cryptography already certified (NIST curve) is easier/cheaper than otherwise. As for backdoors, nobody really knows .. the nature of the algorithm itself makes it practically impossible to even detect a backdoor, even when there is one. So far, no evidence of that though. So if there is a backdoor, then whoever has knowledge of it is damned good in keeping it a secret. In my opinion a bit too good to be likely. That said, NIST has been caught before with their pants down. Rather awkward, since that's the organization supposed to certify such things. One can even wonder what worth or real meaning certifications still have, after they got caught with what they did. I'd personally consider it mostly a national US affair, but the reality is that the rest of the world is still dominated by US standards when it comes to the internet. All in all, the reasons for using the NIST curve might be more economical and people doing security by marking check boxes, rather than about actual security or efficiency.