A public key is the half of a keypair that's safe to share. Your wallet derives an address from it; the public key proves a digital signature truly came from the matching private key — without revealing the key itself. Why it matters The public/private split is the heart of crypto identity: you can *prove* ownership and authorize spending with the private key while exposing only the public side. Share your public key and address freely; share the private key once and you've lost everything tied to it. Related terms private key · address · cryptography
A public key is the half of a keypair that’s safe to share. Your wallet derives an address from it; the public key proves a digital signature truly came from the matching private key — without revealing the key itself.
Why it matters
The public/private split is the heart of crypto identity: you can *prove* ownership and authorize spending with the private key while exposing only the public side. Share your public key and address freely; share the private key once and you’ve lost everything tied to it.