There is a reason why it's often used in crypto. From Wikipedia "now gaining in popularity due to its several nice properties. Most commonly-used curves have a

There is a reason why it's often used in crypto. From Wikipedia "now gaining in popularity due to its several nice properties. Most commonly-used curves have a random structure, but secp256k1 was constructed in a special non-random way which allows for especially efficient computation. As a result, it is often more than 30% faster than other curves if the implementation is sufficiently optimized. Also, unlike the popular NIST curves, secp256k1's constants were selected in a predictable way, which significantly reduces the possibility that the curve's creator inserted any sort of backdoor into the curve."