Generating payment/staking keys and address

To send and receive funds you will need a payment key pair (payment.vkey and payment.skey), as well as a payment address (payment.addr). This set allows you to control your funds. 

To participate in the protocol by delegating your stake or by creating a stake pool you need a stake key pair (stake.vkey and stake.skey) and a stake address (stake.addr). This allows you exercise your rights to participate on the protocol and receiving rewards for it.

Generate a payment key pair:

cardano-cli shelley address key-gen \
 --verification-key-file payment.vkey \
 --signing-key-file payment.skey

Generate a stake key pair:

cardano-cli shelley stake-address key-gen \
 --verification-key-file stake.vkey \
 --signing-key-file stake.skey

Generate a payment address: 

cardano-cli shelley address build \
 --payment-verification-key-file payment.vkey \
 --stake-verification-key-file stake.vkey \
 --out-file payment.addr \
 --mainnet

Generate a stake address: 

cardano-cli shelley stake-address build \
 --stake-verification-key-file stake.vkey \
 --out-file stake.addr \
 --mainnet

For more detailed information, please check Creating keys and addresses