Allows for secure communication without having to agree on a secret key or code to encrypt and decrypt messages.
Alice and Bob are always used as the two people communicating in these scenarios
Both have 2 keys – a PRIVATE and a PUBLIC key.
The private key is a random number.
In bitcoin, the private key space is 2^256. You could theoretically flip a coin 256 times to generate the binary digits for a random private key you can use in a bitcoin wallet.
The public key is generated from the private key.
In bitcoin, the public key is calculated from the private key using ELLIPTIC CURVE MULTIPLICATION which is irreversible.
Alice can give Bob her public key (which was derived from her private key). This can be done publicly, in the open.
Alice must keep her private key just that – private.
Bob can use Alice’s public key to encrypt a message to Alice.
Alice’s private key is the only key that can unlock it.
So, the public key can be used to encrypt a message, but the corresponding private key is required to decrypt it.
Ownership of bitcoin is established through DIGITAL KEYS, BITCOIN ADDRESSES, and DIGITAL SIGNATURES, all of which utilize asymmetric cryptography.
CryptoNotes 