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How should I visually distinguish between the different types of keys available for the end user?
So far the common keys I've come across are
- Private key (not to be shared)
- Bitcoin address (to be shared, and may or may not have a backing private key)
- Compressed public key
- Casascius keys (where the private key is split in half totaling 3 keys)
- Multi signatures
Bitcoin is new, there isn't any recurring standard that I've seen. Come up with something interesting and it'll probably catch on – ryan.ralph – 2014-01-30T13:57:11.570
I'm just looking for an official or preferred standard I can give to my graphic designer. Lacking that she'll just come up with something based on Armory and QT. – goodguys_activate – 2012-12-17T13:26:43.933
Please do not use the term Public Key. That isn't a good term to describe what a Bitcoin address is. It is a Bitcoin Address.
A Bitcoin Address is a hash of the private key, but calling it a public key is confusing it with PKI.
Programmers working on the code might use public key, but outside of that, Bitcoin Address is the preferred term. – Stephen Gornick – 2012-12-18T01:01:49.437
@StephenGornick I updated references to public key and replaced with Bitcoin Address – goodguys_activate – 2012-12-18T01:17:16.853