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xpub (extended public key)
An xpub, or extended public key, is a single code from which a wallet can generate every receiving address in an account, as defined in BIP-32. It cannot spend coins, but anyone holding it can see all of that account's addresses, balances and history.
What it means for you. Pasting an xpub into a portfolio app or block explorer reveals your whole account's history to whoever runs it, not just one address. And if an xpub leaks together with any one of its non-hardened child private keys, the parent private key can be rebuilt and everything in the account spent.
Source: BIP-32: Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets · checked 4 October 2026
Public key
A public key is the shareable half of a crypto key pair, derived from the private key. Others use it to check that a signature really came from the private key, and a wallet address is usually a shortened hash of it.
What it means for you. A public key cannot be used to work backwards to the private key or to spend funds, so sharing it does not give away control. It does link activity to you: anyone holding it, or the address made from it, can follow that account's history on the blockchain.
Sources: ethereum.org: Ethereum accounts, Bitcoin developer guide: Wallets, Bitcoin developer guide: Transactions · checked 4 October 2026