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I have been reading the very well written Zero to Monero book. I am currently at Section 3.1, page 25. The paragraph introduces a term 'base key' from out of nowhere and it has gotten me confused. Is this the same as the EC curve generator G? How is this different from the public key?

m0bi5
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1 Answers1

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The curve generator is just another name for the curve's base point, which is denoted as G.

In Z2M 3.1, each "base key" J is simply a curve point you are going multiply by a scalar k (a private key) to get a new curve point K (a public key).

Put simply, the proof discussed is about creating a proof to show you know the k multiplied by each J to create each K, and you can prove this without revealing k.

Or annotated first line from 3.1: "It is often useful to prove the same private key (scalar k) was used to construct public keys (each point K) on different ‘base’ keys (each point J)"

jtgrassie
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