From 1422a135ab57172635e641f70eed906697271e05 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "judymcconville@roadrunner.com" Date: Wed, 3 May 2017 10:55:21 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Edited ch04.asciidoc with Atlas code editor --- ch04.asciidoc | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/ch04.asciidoc b/ch04.asciidoc index 67bd9e19..9edd51ed 100644 --- a/ch04.asciidoc +++ b/ch04.asciidoc @@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ image::images/mbc2_0401.png["privk_to_pubK_to_addressA"] .Why use asymmetric cryptography (public/private keys)? **** -((("cryptography", "assymetric")))((("digital signatures", "asymmetric cryptography and")))((("asymmetric cryptography")))Why is asymmetric cryptography used in bitcoin? It's not used to "encrypt" (make secret) the transactions. Rather, the useful property of asymmetric cryptography is the ability to generate _digital signatures_. A private key can be applied to the digital fingerprint of a transaction to produce a numerical signature. This signature can only be produced by someone with knowledge of the private key. However, anyone with access to the public key and the transaction fingerprint can use them to _verify_ the signature. This useful property of asymmetric cryptography makes it possible for anyone to verify every signature on every transaction, while ensuring that only the owners of private keys can produce valid signatures. +((("cryptography", "asymmetric")))((("digital signatures", "asymmetric cryptography and")))((("asymmetric cryptography")))Why is asymmetric cryptography used in bitcoin? It's not used to "encrypt" (make secret) the transactions. Rather, the useful property of asymmetric cryptography is the ability to generate _digital signatures_. A private key can be applied to the digital fingerprint of a transaction to produce a numerical signature. This signature can only be produced by someone with knowledge of the private key. However, anyone with access to the public key and the transaction fingerprint can use them to _verify_ the signature. This useful property of asymmetric cryptography makes it possible for anyone to verify every signature on every transaction, while ensuring that only the owners of private keys can produce valid signatures. **** [[private_keys]]