What is the Difference Between Address, Private Key, Public Key, and Passphrase?

Address, Private Key, Public Key, and Passphrases are commonly used to pertain to security features of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. It is understood that they are used to safeguard crypto accounts and transactions, but are they really different from each other? Let’s discuss each feature one by one.

Address

Many people are already familiar with crypto addresses. Bitcoin for one has addresses for each user account. These Bitcoin addresses are made from a long sequence of letters and digits.

Addresses are not exactly used as a security feature, their function is similar to that of an email address. The address will be used to send or receive cryptos in your own wallet or account. Addresses are usually represented by QR codes so they will be easily readable by mobile devices.

Passphrase

Passphrases are made from random words that are used to access or recover an entire crypto wallet. The words are generated randomly by a program, and users have prompted to back-up the words for future reference. The words could be as random as “sea airplane happy comma ketchup clock iron bottle crisps pale dish short.” A passphrase could be 12 to 14-words long.

Public Key

Normally, every Bitcoin address comes with a public key. A corresponding public key is made whenever you send Bitcoins, and you can check that code on the Addresses tab if you use the Electrum wallet.

Private Key

If you use a passphrase to secure your Bitcoin account, then a private key will also be generated. A private key can also generate an address, and this can also be shown via the addresses tab on Electrum. It is important to save your Private Key, or else you will risk losing all your cryptos in the wallet protected by it. Private Keys also have a corresponding Public Key for certain transactions.