Glenn_CostaRica
1. Describe the concept of public and private key with your own words.
A public key is a fixed string of characters representing a hexadecimal number that is produced as the result of applying a hashing function to another secret string of characters called âprivate keyâ. The private key is usually generated in a random way. One can invent the private key with a pencil and paper or one can use a wallet to generate a private key automatically. One can share the public key with people. This is what public keys are for. However, one should never share the private key, since, with it, anyone can access and manage oneâs blockchain assets.
2. What 2 use-cases can public key cryptography be used for?
Public key cryptography is useful for generating private-public key pairs, and also to generate digital signatures. The private-public key pairs are generated through a hashing algorithm that can take the private key as input and generate the public key. And, digital signatures are created with the private keys to make it reliable in the eyes of second and third parties that the holder of a certain public key is the legitimate generator of some specific message or transaction.