Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) is an address starting with the number ‘1’ and is used to send Bitcoin to a single person. The address is a cryptographic public key that is derived from the individual’s private key, making it secure and unchangeable. Sending funds to a P2PKH address requires the sender to provide two pieces of information: the destination address and the digital signature of the sender.
The destination address is a long string of numbers and letters that represents the public key. The public key, in turn, is derived from the individual’s private key. Both the private key and the public key are created using an algorithm known as a cryptographic hash, which is a one-way mathematical function that takes an input and returns a unique output.
As a result, the output cannot be reversed to create the input. The digital signature of the sender is also a long string of numbers and letters that represents the sender’s private key. The sender’s private key is used to generate a unique message digest, which is then encrypted using the sender’s public key.
This encrypted message digest is what is known as the sender’s digital signature. Once the recipient has verified the information, they can then safely accept the funds that have been sent to them.