What are Digital Signatures ?

Today I want to talk to you about Bitcoin digital signatures.

In order to send any amount of Bitcoins I would need to prove that I own their private key. A digital signature is a way to prove that I own a specific private key without actually disclosing it to the public. Let me explain.

Let’s say I send you 1 Bitcoin. My transaction message is mixed mathematically with my private key to produce a unique digital signature. If miners want to validate that this signature is valid, they will be able to do so by using only my public key.

Through digital signatures, miners are able to verify that I actually own a private key without the need to expose it. Also, digital signatures are different each time you sign a transaction – that’s why it’s even better than a real signature.

So if I send you 2 Bitcoins today and then another 2 Bitcoins tomorrow – each of these transactions will have different signatures.

Now you know what digital signatures are – a mediator that proves I have a specific private key without exposing it to the public.

For more information visit 99Bitcoins.com  A non-technical blog about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.