DETERMINING A COMMON SECRET FOR THE SECURE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND HIERARCHICAL, DETERMINISTIC CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEYS

A method (300) and system (1) of determining a common secret for two nodes (3, 7). Each node (3, 7) has a respective asymmetric cryptography pair, each pair including a master private key and a master public key. Respective second private and public keys may be determined based on the master private key, master public key and a deterministic key. A common secret may be determined at each of the nodes based on the second private and public keys. In one example, a node (3, 7) may determine the common secret based on (i) a second private key based on the node's own master private key and the deterministic key; and (ii) a second public key based on the other node's master public key and the deterministic key. The invention may be suited for use with, but not limited to, digital wallets, blockchain (e.g. Bitcoin) technologies and personal device security.