Recently, I saw someone in the group sending BTC to the wrong chain, and a few k directly disappeared. So I decided to talk about Wallet Address— it seems simple, but there are actually quite a few points where Newbies can easily get it wrong.
First, clarify the concepts: Address, Public Key, and Private Key are not the same thing.
Many people confuse "public key" with "wallet address", but they are actually different:
- Public Key: Automatically generated when the Wallet is created, used to verify the legality of transactions.
- Wallet Address: Derived from the public key through hashing, this is the actual string of characters you use to receive coins.
- Private Key: It must never be disclosed; possessing it means having complete control over this Wallet.
In simple terms: the private key is your ID card + bank card PIN, the address is your receiving account, be sure not to confuse them.
The address format for different currencies looks like this.
BTC Address:
- Legacy format: starts with "1"
- SegWit