<p><a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Technical_background_of_version_1_Bitcoin_addresses" rel="noreferrer">cited</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A Bitcoin address is a 160-bit hash of the public portion of a public/private ECDSA keypair.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>a <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/w/images/en/9/9b/PubKeyToAddr.png" rel="noreferrer">picture</a> may make it easier to understand how an address is generated from a public key;</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bDi5o.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bDi5o.png" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<sup><a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/File:PubKeyToAddr.png" rel="noreferrer">Image provided under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication</a></sup></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-05T05:31:28.603Z
2018-11-05T10:23:21.653Z
2018-11-05T10:23:21.653Z
Cyker
<p>Public key are not the addresses, A  address is like an email address that funds can be sent to.</p>

<p>The public key is used by the wallet to make different  addresses.</p>

<p>we can also say that The public address is a hashed version of the public key. Because the public key is made up of an extremely long string of numbers, it is compressed and shortened to form the public address</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-07T03:26:10.157Z
That explains it clearly and concisely. The main point is that your public key is tightly coupled to an address, as it must be.
gcr
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-05T05:25:12.943Z
2018-11-05T05:30:47.373Z
2018-11-05T05:30:47.373Z
Pankaj Kumar
<p>I'm beginning to learn about cryptocurrencies, and I'm having a lot of trouble because some terms are used in different contexts. I know that public keys are generated through a private key. So, are those public keys the addresses? And is it possible to generate more than one address per each private key in wallet? Why?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-05T23:49:31.220Z
Possible duplicate of https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/13059/5406
Murch
<public-key><address-generation>
What is the difference between your address and your public keys
Andre
# What is the difference between your address and your public keys

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-05)

I'm beginning to learn about cryptocurrencies, and I'm having a lot of trouble because some terms are used in different contexts. I know that public keys are generated through a private key. So, are those public keys the addresses? And is it possible to generate more than one address per each private key in wallet? Why?

**Tags:** public-key, address-generation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Possible duplicate of https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/13059/5406  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-11-05. Score: 8

[cited](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Technical_background_of_version_1_Bitcoin_addresses):

> A Bitcoin address is a 160-bit hash of the public portion of a public/private ECDSA keypair.

a [picture](https://en.bitcoin.it/w/images/en/9/9b/PubKeyToAddr.png) may make it easier to understand how an address is generated from a public key;

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bDi5o.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bDi5o.png)
[Image provided under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/File:PubKeyToAddr.png)


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### Answer by username_3 on 2018-11-05. Score: 2

Public key are not the addresses, A address is like an email address that funds can be sent to.

The public key is used by the wallet to make different addresses.

we can also say that The public address is a hashed version of the public key. Because the public key is made up of an extremely long string of numbers, it is compressed and shortened to form the public address

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: That explains it clearly and concisely. The main point is that your public key is tightly coupled to an address, as it must be.  

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