Public Key
What is a Public Key?
A public key is a unique address needed to perform transactions within a crypto network. It’s all about making payments and transactions.
The key can also be interpreted as a unique address that has a similarity to an account number or e-mail address. Providing the key is the only way to carry out valid transactions.
This key usually consists of a chain of numbers and letters and, therefore, has a particularly high degree of security.
How is the safety of the public key guaranteed?
The security of the key is ensured by the use of asymmetric encryption. Prior to the introduction of asymmetric encryption, only symmetric encryption was used.
The aim of this method is to encrypt messages or files, which can then only be decrypted by entering the appropriate code. However, experts have also identified a flaw in this process.
This is because the security provided decreases significantly as soon as a third party manages to crack the encryption algorithm.
If anyone wishes to send an encrypted message to another person, they must use the recipient’s public key. This message is also encrypted. After the message is sent, it can be accessed by the recipient.
The decryption of this message is done by entering the recipient’s public key. This does not apply to Bitcoin because the entry of a transaction is sufficient for the decryption of the message.
The security is ensured by the entry of the public key which can only be read by the recipient of the message.
