A digital signature is a cryptographic value created by a hash function. Digital signatures are used to validate and preserve the integrity of digital messages, transactions, documents, and data. Physical data is less subject to attacks and security breaches than digital data. The recived, hashed data used as digital signatures are difficult to fake, making it difficult to verify an object was not manufactured fraudulently or modified with. Some digital signatures are legally enforceable. Asymmetric cryptography (also known as public-key cryptography) underpins digital signatures on blockchains. Traders safeguard transactions by signing and decrypting them with a secret private key and receiving and encrypting them with a public key.
