What Is the Difference Between Private Key and Public Key?

What Is Public Key Cryptography (PKC)？

Public keys and private keys are vital parts of cryptocurrencies. They play important roles in digital currency transactions since there is no third party in the cryptocurrency world. They are part of the Public Key Cryptography (PKC) framework. The PKC is asymmetric encryption technology that uses to validate the authenticity of something. In the early time, people use PKC to encrypt and decrypt messages. Nowadays, it is widely used to encrypt and decrypt transactions for cryptocurrencies. The key to PKC is a one-way mathematical function that can only be decrypted in one direction and reversing the process is nearly impossible. Something like proving you have a secret without exposing that secret.

What Is a Public Key?

A public key is a cryptographic code generated(multiplier module in Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem) by a private key that receives cryptocurrency transactions. It is paired with a private key, if someone sends transactions to the public key, you need the private key to "unlock" them and prove that you are the owner of the cryptocurrency received in the transaction. Public keys can be shared freely to all nodes without any risk. They are comparable to account numbers.

What Is a Private Key?

You'll be given a wallet address and a private key to send and receive digital coins during the transaction process. A wallet address is where the funds are deposited and received. Without the unique private key, you can't withdraw the digital coins if you only know the address. Generally, a private key is a 256 character long binary code that is generated randomly by a random number generator. So it is an astronomically large number that secures your fund safety. They are comparable to account passwords.

What's the Difference Between an Address, a Private Key, and a Public Key?

We may see a lot of addresses, for example," 3Po34jgwk2w3dePzdZrZNExweD9jRKWdAb" and private key, such as, "8mLCxDrje7i3rcZqO8uiFWorCuV2OOUdXc35MWUeMp0j". But we may not find the public key, since we have found the address and private key in the wallet, many people may consider the address as the public key. Actually, it is not the same. A public key is generated by a private key, and an address is generated(one-way single hash function) by a public key. Basically, miners use the public key to verify transactions, that is to say, the public key generally exists in the process of verifying the transaction.

How Does a Transaction Work？

To complete a transaction on the blockchain, it needs to be signed. Let's take an example to explain how a transaction works. If Lily wants to send Bitcoin to Tom, the steps are:

1. Lily can encrypt the message with her private key and sends it to Tom.
2. She also produces a special value, called a hash output, with her message that is sent to Tom using his public key.

3. The miners of the blockchain verify the transaction.
4. Using the hash output, the message, and his private key, Tom can decrypt and read the message(receive the Bitcoin successfully).

By the way, others couldn't read the message since they only have the public key.

Why are Private Keys Important?

• Cryptocurrencies are decentralized, with no banking system in the middle to process the transaction and holding your fund. Thanks to blockchain technology, crypto can be distributed across a network of computers. However, in this system, your public key and transaction information can be seen by anyone in the blockchain.
• Your private key and your public key are a matched pair. It can be used to generate a public key, miners use the public key to verify that it's really you.

• Private keys are like passports of your bank accounts which can be used to access your account and check the balance or make money transactions. If you lose your private key, you lose access to your funds. If someone else learns your key, they can spend those funds. As a result, keeping your private key away from prying eyes is of paramount importance.

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