What is a wallet address?
DefinitionA wallet address is a public string of letters and numbers that identifies where crypto can be sent on a specific blockchain. It is derived from your public key, so you can share it freely, but it never lets anyone spend your funds.
How a wallet address works
A wallet address is the public side of a key pair. Your wallet creates a private key, derives a public key from it, and turns that into a shorter address in the format each blockchain expects. Anyone can send to the address; only the private key can move what arrives there.
The math only runs one way, so nobody can work out your private key from your address. That is why sharing an address is safe, while sharing your recovery phrase or private key never is.
Address formats by network
Each blockchain has its own format, and the first characters usually tell you which network an address belongs to:
- Bitcoin: native SegWit addresses start with bc1q
- Ethereum and other EVM networks: 0x followed by 40 hexadecimal characters, the same address on every EVM network
- Tron: 34 characters starting with T
- TON: 48 characters, usually starting with UQ or EQ
- Solana: 32 to 44 characters without a fixed prefix
- XRP Ledger: starts with r; Stellar: 56 characters starting with G
Mistakes to avoid
The most expensive mistake is a mismatched network. A 0x address looks identical on Ethereum and BNB Smart Chain, but the networks are separate, so always send on the network the receiver asked for. Funds sent on a network the receiver doesn’t support may be hard or impossible to recover.
Never type an address from memory or copy it from your transaction history. Scammers plant look-alike addresses there that match the first and last characters of real ones, so check the whole address every time.
Remember that addresses are public. Anyone who knows yours can look up its balance and history on a block explorer, which is one reason to keep separate wallets for different purposes.
Wallet addresses in Waletifi
Waletifi shows the network next to every receive address and again on the review screen before you confirm. You can send to an @handle instead of pasting a long address, copied addresses are cleared from the clipboard after 60 seconds, and the review screen warns you about look-alike addresses and about a handle whose address has changed.
