Digital keys and addresses

On the Bitcoin network, possession of bitcoins and transfer of value via transactions is reliant upon private keys, public keys, and addresses. In Chapter 4, Public Key Cryptography, we have already covered these concepts, and here we will see that how private and public keys are used in the Bitcoin network.

Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is used to generate public and private key pairs in the Bitcoin network.

Private keys in Bitcoin

Private keys are required to be kept safe and normally resides only on the owner's side. Private keys are used to digitally sign the transactions proving the ownership of the bitcoins.

Private keys are fundamentally 256-bit numbers randomly chosen in the range...