Wallet address

A wallet address is a string of characters that others send crypto to. It’s derived from a public key, it’s safe to share, and it doesn’t let anyone spend the funds.

It works like a bank account number, with one difference: a bitcoin wallet usually creates a new address for every deposit. They all come from one recovery phrase, so you don’t write each one down. Bitcoin addresses most often start with “bc1”, “1” or “3”.

Two things are worth knowing. First, an address is public: anyone can look at the open record of transactions and see how much sits on it. Your privacy ends once someone links the address to your name. Second, a payment to a wrong address is usually lost, because transactions can’t be reversed. Compare the start and end of the string, and for a larger amount send a small test payment first.

An address isn’t a private key. Whoever knows it can only send funds to it and look.

Why it matters for your family

Families often find a long string of characters in the papers and assume it’s access to a wallet. Most likely it’s an address. You can’t spend anything with it, but it shows where to look for funds, and it helps an adviser value them. The guide on what happens to your bitcoin when you die explains how an address differs from the data that does give access.