((("bitcoin","establishing ownership of")))Ownership of bitcoin is established through _digital keys_, _bitcoin addresses_, and _digital signatures_. The digital keys are not actually stored in the network, but are instead created and stored by users in a file, or simple database, called a _wallet_. The digital keys in a user's wallet are completely independent of the bitcoin protocol and can be generated and managed by the user's wallet software without reference to the blockchain or access to the Internet. Keys enable many of the interesting properties of bitcoin, including de-centralized trust and control, ownership attestation, and the cryptographic-proof security model.
((("bitcoin","establishing ownership of")))Ownership of bitcoin is established through _digital keys_, _bitcoin addresses_, and _digital signatures_. The digital keys are not actually stored in the network, but are instead created and stored by users in a file, or simple database, called a _wallet_. The digital keys in a user's wallet are completely independent of the bitcoin protocol and can be generated and managed by the user's wallet software without reference to the blockchain or access to the Internet. Keys enable many of the interesting properties of bitcoin, including de-centralized trust and control, ownership attestation, and the cryptographic-proof security model.
Every bitcoin transaction requires a valid signature to be included in the blockchain, which can only be generated with valid digital keys; therefore, anyone with a copy of those keys has control of the bitcoin in that account. Keys come in pairs consisting of a private (secret) key and a public key. Think of the public key as similar to a bank account number and the private key as similar to the secret PIN, or signature on a check that provides control over the account. These digital keys are very rarely seen by the users of bitcoin. For the most part, they are stored inside the wallet file and managed by the bitcoin wallet software.
Every bitcoin transaction requires a valid signature to be included in the blockchain, which can only be generated with valid digital keys; therefore, anyone with a copy of those keys has control of the bitcoin in that account. Keys come in pairs consisting of a private (secret) key and a public key. Think of the public key as similar to a bank account number and the private key as similar to the secret PIN, or signature on a check that provides control over the account. These digital keys are very rarely seen by the users of bitcoin. For the most part, they are stored inside the wallet file and managed by the bitcoin wallet software.
In the payment portion of a bitcoin transaction, the recipient's public key is represented by its digital fingerprint, called a((("addresses, bitcoin","defined"))) _bitcoin address_, which is used in the same way as the beneficiary name on a check (i.e., "Pay to the order of"). In most cases, a bitcoin address is generated from and corresponds to a public key. However, not all bitcoin addresses represent public keys; they can also represent other beneficiaries such as scripts, as we will see later in this chapter. This way, bitcoin addresses abstract the recipient of funds, making transaction destinations flexible, similar to paper checks: a single payment instrument that can be used to pay into people's accounts, pay into company accounts, pay for bills, or pay to cash. The bitcoin address is the only representation of the keys that users will routinely see, because this is the part they need to share with the world.
@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ K = 04F028892BAD...505BDB
[[comp_pub]]
===== Compressed public keys
((("compressed public keys", id="ix_ch04-asciidoc16", range="startofrange")))((("public keys","compressed", id="ix_ch04-asciidoc17", range="startofrange")))Compressed public keys were introduced to bitcoin to reduce the size of transactions and conserve disk space on nodes that store the bitcoin blockchain database. Most transactions include the public key, required to validate the owner's credentials and spend the bitcoin. Each public key requires 520 bits (prefix \+ x \+ y), which when multiplied by several hundred transactions per block, or tens of thousands of transactions per day, adds a significant amount of data to the blockchain.
((("compressed public keys", id="ix_ch04-asciidoc16", range="startofrange")))((("public keys","compressed", id="ix_ch04-asciidoc17", range="startofrange")))Compressed public keys were introduced to bitcoin to reduce the size of transactions and conserve disk space on nodes that store the bitcoin blockchain database. Most transactions include the public key, required to validate the owner's credentials and spend the bitcoin. Each public key requires 520 bits (prefix \+ x \+ y), which when multiplied by several hundred transactions per block, or tens of thousands of transactions per day, adds a significant amount of data to the blockchain.
As we saw in the section <<pubkey>>, a public key is a point (x,y) on an elliptic curve. Because the curve expresses a mathematical function, a point on the curve represents a solution to the equation and, therefore, if we know the _x_ coordinate we can calculate the _y_ coordinate by solving the equation y^2^ mod p = (x^3^ + 7) mod p. That allows us to store only the _x_ coordinate of the public key point, omitting the _y_ coordinate and reducing the size of the key and the space required to store it by 256 bits. An almost 50% reduction in size in every transaction adds up to a lot of data saved over time!
@ -429,16 +429,16 @@ K = 03F028892BAD...DC341A
((("addresses, bitcoin","converting compressed keys to")))((("compressed keys","converting to bitcoin addresses")))This compressed public key corresponds to the same private key, meaning that it is generated from the same private key. However, it looks different from the uncompressed public key. More importantly, if we convert this compressed public key to a bitcoin address using the double-hash function (+RIPEMD160(SHA256(K))+) it will produce a _different_ bitcoin address. This can be confusing, because it means that a single private key can produce a public key expressed in two different formats (compressed and uncompressed) that produce two different bitcoin addresses. However, the private key is identical for both bitcoin addresses.
((("blockchains","size of, and compressed public keys")))Compressed public keys are gradually becoming the default across bitcoin clients, which is having a significant impact on reducing the size of transactions and therefore the blockchain. However, not all clients support compressed public keys yet. Newer clients that support compressed public keys have to account for transactions from older clients that do not support compressed public keys. This is especially important when a wallet application is importing private keys from another bitcoin wallet application, because the new wallet needs to scan the blockchain to find transactions corresponding to these imported keys. Which bitcoin addresses should the bitcoin wallet scan for? The bitcoin addresses produced by uncompressed public keys, or the bitcoin addresses produced by compressed public keys? Both are valid bitcoin addresses, and can be signed for by the private key, but they are different addresses!
((("blockchains","size of, and compressed public keys")))Compressed public keys are gradually becoming the default across bitcoin clients, which is having a significant impact on reducing the size of transactions and therefore the blockchain. However, not all clients support compressed public keys yet. Newer clients that support compressed public keys have to account for transactions from older clients that do not support compressed public keys. This is especially important when a wallet application is importing private keys from another bitcoin wallet application, because the new wallet needs to scan the blockchain to find transactions corresponding to these imported keys. Which bitcoin addresses should the bitcoin wallet scan for? The bitcoin addresses produced by uncompressed public keys, or the bitcoin addresses produced by compressed public keys? Both are valid bitcoin addresses, and can be signed for by the private key, but they are different addresses!
((("Wallet Import Format (WIF)","newer bitcoin wallets and")))To resolve this issue, when private keys are exported from a wallet, the Wallet Import Format that is used to represent them is implemented differently in newer bitcoin wallets, to indicate that these private keys have been used to produce _compressed_ public keys and therefore _compressed_ bitcoin addresses. This allows the importing wallet to distinguish between private keys originating from older or newer wallets and search the blockchain for transactions with bitcoin addresses corresponding to the uncompressed, or the compressed, public keys, respectively. Let's look at how this works in more detail, in the next section.(((range="endofrange", startref="ix_ch04-asciidoc17")))(((range="endofrange", startref="ix_ch04-asciidoc16")))
((("Wallet Import Format (WIF)","newer bitcoin wallets and")))To resolve this issue, when private keys are exported from a wallet, the Wallet Import Format that is used to represent them is implemented differently in newer bitcoin wallets, to indicate that these private keys have been used to produce _compressed_ public keys and therefore _compressed_ bitcoin addresses. This allows the importing wallet to distinguish between private keys originating from older or newer wallets and search the blockchain for transactions with bitcoin addresses corresponding to the uncompressed, or the compressed, public keys, respectively. Let's look at how this works in more detail, in the next section.(((range="endofrange", startref="ix_ch04-asciidoc17")))(((range="endofrange", startref="ix_ch04-asciidoc16")))
[[comp_priv]]
===== Compressed private keys
((("compressed private keys")))((("private keys","compressed")))Ironically, the term "compressed private key" is misleading, because when a private key is exported as WIF-compressed it is actually one byte _longer_ than an "uncompressed" private key. That is because it has the added 01 suffix, which signifies it comes from a newer wallet and should only be used to produce compressed public keys. Private keys are not compressed and cannot be compressed. The term "compressed private key" really means "private key from which compressed public keys should be derived," whereas "uncompressed private key" really means "private key from which uncompressed public keys should be derived." You should only refer to the export format as "WIF-compressed" or "WIF" and not refer to the private key as "compressed" to avoid further confusion.
Remember, these formats are _not_ used interchangeably. In a newer wallet that implements compressed public keys, the private keys will only ever be exported as WIF-compressed (with a K or L prefix). If the wallet is an older implementation and does not use compressed public keys, the private keys will only ever be exported as WIF (with a 5 prefix). The goal here is to signal to the wallet importing these private keys whether it must search the blockchain for compressed or uncompressed public keys and addresses.
Remember, these formats are _not_ used interchangeably. In a newer wallet that implements compressed public keys, the private keys will only ever be exported as WIF-compressed (with a K or L prefix). If the wallet is an older implementation and does not use compressed public keys, the private keys will only ever be exported as WIF (with a 5 prefix). The goal here is to signal to the wallet importing these private keys whether it must search the blockchain for compressed or uncompressed public keys and addresses.
If a bitcoin wallet is able to implement compressed public keys, it will use those in all transactions. The private keys in the wallet will be used to derive the public key points on the curve, which will be compressed. The compressed public keys will be used to produce bitcoin addresses and those will be used in transactions. When exporting private keys from a new wallet that implements compressed public keys, the Wallet Import Format is modified, with the addition of a one-byte suffix +01+ to the private key. The resulting Base58Check-encoded private key is called a "Compressed WIF" and starts with the letter K or L, instead of starting with "5" as is the case with WIF-encoded (non-compressed) keys from older wallets.
@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ Another method for making keys is((("deterministic key generation"))) _determini
[TIP]
====
Bitcoin wallets contain keys, not coins. Each user has a wallet containing keys. Wallets are really keychains containing pairs of private/public keys (see <<private_public_keys>>). Users sign transactions with the keys, thereby proving they own the transaction outputs (their coins). The coins are stored on the blockchain in the form of transaction-ouputs (often noted as vout or txout).((("txout notation")))((("vout notation")))
Bitcoin wallets contain keys, not coins. Each user has a wallet containing keys. Wallets are really keychains containing pairs of private/public keys (see <<private_public_keys>>). Users sign transactions with the keys, thereby proving they own the transaction outputs (their coins). The coins are stored on the blockchain in the form of transaction-ouputs (often noted as vout or txout).((("txout notation")))((("vout notation")))
myarbrough@oreilly.com
10 years ago