Private key
In short
The private key is the secret number your wallet uses to sign transactions. It proves ownership of your coins — without it, no one (including you) can move them.
The private key generates the public key, which generates your address. It is a one-way street: an address cannot be reversed into a private key.
Is the private key the same as the seed phrase?
Almost: the seed phrase is the human-readable backup from which private keys are derived.
Related terms
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