A cryptocurrency account is an entity that has a cryptocurrency balance and can send cryptocurrency (transact). It has an address on a public blockchain, just like an inbox has an email address. The address is public. It is sometimes referred to as a “public address.”

“Account” and “address” are two terms that refer to the same thing. You could replace all uses of the word “account” below with the word “address.” An address is essentially a cryptographic public key. Specifically, it is a hash of the public key.

An ETH address (account) is a string of numbers and letters that begins with “0x.” An example of an ETH address is:

0x0125e2478d69eXaMpLe81766fef5c120d30fb53f

An account is like an email or phone number. It is a unique identifier that is associated with an individual or institution. It is the public key that is viewable on the public blockchain. We sometimes refer to an email “account” as in “I have a gmail account.” In the same way, a blockchain address can be referred to as an account.

There are two types of accounts in the Ethereum network. Ethereum accounts can be user-controlled or deployed as smart contracts. User-controlled accounts are “externally owned,” meaning they are controlled by anyone with the private key. Smart contracts are not controlled by a user. They are deployed to the network and controlled by the smart contract code.

Only externally-owned accounts can initiate transactions. For instance, you can send ETH from one account to a different account. Both types of accounts can interact with smart contract accounts. A user account can interact with a smart contract account and a smart contract account can interact with another smart contract account.

You could think of a cryptocurrency account as a bank account without a bank. An important difference is that no company owns the user’s account. We are all familiar with creating online accounts with companies like a bank, but a cryptocurrency account is not owned by any company. It is a decentralized system of accounts. You own your account. You need a cryptocurrency wallet to manage your cryptocurrency account. You can use a wallet to create an account for free.

An Ethereum account stores ETH.

You can send cryptocurrency to an account using the address. For instance, you can send cryptocurrency from Coinbase to a wallet using the address rather than a phone number or email.

To receive cryptocurrency from another entity, the recipient must reveal their address to the sender. The unique address is how the sender directs the funds to the account. A completed transaction will also reveal the address of the sender. A transaction on a public transaction lists the address of the sender and the receiver. Because addresses are used for transactions, they are inherently public.

You can go to Etherscan to view the latest transactions. For each transaction there is the “From” address and the “To” address.