How Does a Public Key Relate to a Cryptocurrency Address?
A cryptocurrency address is a shorter, more user-friendly representation of the public key, often generated through a series of hashing and encoding steps. For example, in Bitcoin, the public key is hashed with SHA-256 and then RIPEMD-160, and finally encoded with Base58Check.
This process adds a checksum to prevent typographical errors. Users share the address to receive funds, maintaining the privacy of the full public key until the first transaction.