Public Address
A public address, also known as a wallet address, is the unique identifier for cryptocurrency transactions. It is used to receive digital assets from another party and can be shared publicly in order to initiate a transaction. Public addresses are similar to bank account numbers; however, unlike bank accounts, they are not associated with any personal information or identification documents. As such, they provide a degree of privacy and anonymity when conducting cryptocurrency transactions.
Public addresses consist of alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers) that generally start with a specific set of characters depending on the type of blockchain being used. For example Bitcoin uses addresses beginning with “1” while Ethereum uses those starting with “0x”. Every public address has an accompanying private key which is used to access funds stored at that address; it should never be shared or revealed publicly in order to maintain the security of your funds.
When sending cryptocurrencies from one person to another using a public address, users typically use their own wallet software or exchange platform by entering the recipient’s public address along with other details such as amount being sent and transaction fees (if applicable). Once all relevant data has been entered correctly into the system it will generate an encrypted code containing all instructions necessary for completing the transfer which then needs to be validated through mining before becoming part of permanent record in its respective blockchain ledger – this process usually takes between 10 minutes up several hours depending on network congestion levels at time of submission.