What is a bitcoin address?

Bitcoin address, public address or simply address is a unique identifier that serves as a location where Bitcoins can be sent. It is also sometimes called as receiving address and it represents a source and destination of a Bitcoin payment. You can share your BTC address with others and ask them to send Bitcoin to your address.

How many characters are in a bitcoin address?

Each Bitcoin address is unique. It is comprised of 26 – 35 alphanumeric characters and the address usually begins with number 1 or 3. You don’t need to get into the technical’s but here is an example of Bitcoin address format: Pay-to-Pub key Hash (P2PKH) address that begins with the number 1:

Can a bitcoin address hold a balance?

Unlike a digital wallet, a Bitcoin address cannot hold a balance. The address itself consists of 26-35 alphanumeric characters. This string is the public half of an asymmetric key pair . The standard format for a Bitcoin address is P2PKH (pay to public key hash ).

How does bitcoin work?

The user signs with the private key and verifies that signature with the public key. When Bitcoin first started, people could send the currency to an IP address. That was a convenient method for users but it quickly became apparent that it would also be convenient for people launching man-in-the-middle attacks.