Public Key
cryptography · technical
Cryptographic data used to verify signatures made by the corresponding private key.
A public key lets others verify that a signature matches a corresponding private key. Publishing it does not reveal the private key under the assumed security of the signature scheme, but it can affect privacy and future cryptographic exposure.
Some addresses encode a hash of a public key, while others encode scripts, programs, or accounts. A spend can reveal the public key or script that was previously hidden behind the address commitment.
Reusing one key or address can make activity easier to link. Public-key exposure also matters in post-quantum planning because sufficiently capable quantum computers would threaten common elliptic-curve signature schemes.
Related terms
Private Key
→Secret cryptographic material used to produce signatures or other authorization proofs.
cryptography · security · wallet
Signature
→A cryptographic proof that a message was authorized by the holder of a private key.
cryptography
Address
→A network-specific identifier that describes a destination or spending condition for a cryptocurrency payment.
wallet · technical
Schnorr Signatures
→A digital signature scheme with linear properties that can improve verification, multi-signature design, and privacy.
bch · scaling