Cryptographic primitives

Cryptographic primitives are low-level cryptographic algorithms that are used to construct cryptographic protocols used by applications. These are the building blocks of designing a cryptographic system. A designer planning to implement a cryptographic protocol in a system doesn't have to worry about the low-level abstraction of the primitives and can concentrate entirely on building the application:

Figure 2.2 shows a detailed classification of cryptographic primitives. Blockchain technology makes use of most of these cryptographic primitives to achieve basic blockchain functionalities and secure data on the decentralized network: asymmetric cryptography for managing keys; digital signatures for transactions; and, most importantly, hashing, which is the backbone of the blockchain, are some of the most commonly used primitives of cryptography. We will cover all of these primitives, along with some others, to get a clear insight into them.