You must first purchase a wallet to store your virtual currency to use a cryptocurrency. It also has a unique address, just like a bank account. Depending on the coin, it may resemble this. It appears to be a completely random sequence of characters and numbers, but there is more to it. The first thing we need to figure out is how these things are manufactured. Anyone can create a new wallet by following a precise procedure to generate a public and private key pair. In the case of Bitcoin or Ethereum, this is accomplished by using an elliptical curve digital signature method. That’s a mouthful, but the bottom line is that the process will generate a private key and a corresponding public key. These keys are mathematically related to one another. You can use the private key to generate the public key. However, you cannot convert a public key to a private key. These two keys now have a distinct function. The public key will serve as the address for your wallet, similar to your bank account number. And the private key is your way of verifying that you own the wallet and hence have the authority to spend the money contained within it. To summarize, public keys can be shared with anybody, whereas private keys must be kept confidential unless you want others to decide what you should do with your money. So far, everything is going well. But there are a few fascinating side consequences to this approach that I’d like to mention. Why ...
