Bitcoin Sending Addresses: A Guide
As a user of Bitcoin Core, you’re likely familiar with the concept of sending Bitcoins to various addresses. However, you may not know which address is being used when you send less than 1 bitcoin or more than 1 bitcoin. In this article, we’ll explore how to determine the receiving address for your Bitcoin transactions.
Understanding Bitcoin Addresses
Bitcoin addresses are 34-character long strings that start with a letter (a-z or A-Z) followed by a series of hexadecimal digits. The first character is always “1” (the decimal representation of 2^10 + 4), and each subsequent character represents one byte of the address.
For example, an address like 1A1Bc1234567d can be broken down into its components:
1: The letter indicating that the transaction is being sent from
A: A hexadecimal digit representing the sender’s account balance (in this case, 2^10 + 4 = 36)
1: Another hexadecimal digit representing another byte of the sender’s account balance
B: A hexadecimal digit representing a third byte of the sender’s account balance
c: A hexadecimal digit representing another byte of the sender’s account balance
12: The first six characters represent a block number and the hash of a Merkle tree root (not relevant to this explanation)
7: Another hexadecimal digit representing another byte of the sender’s account balance
Identifying the Sending Address
When sending Bitcoins, you can identify the receiving address using the following methods:
- Check your Bitcoin Core wallet: In the Bitcoin Core wallet, go to
Wallet Settings >
Addresses. Look for the transaction that shows the receiving address.
- Use the
bitcoin-qtcommand-line tool: Runbitcoin-qt --addressin your terminal or command prompt. This will display the entire transaction history, including the sending and receiving addresses.
In this example:
- If you’re sending 1 bitcoin to address A:
1A1Bc1234567d, then the receiving address is A.
- To send more than 1 bitcoin to address B:
2A1Bc1234567d, then the receiving address is B.
Sending and Receiving Addresses in Bitcoin Core
In Bitcoin Core, when you want to send a transaction using multiple addresses (e.g., sending 3 bitcoins to A and B), you can do so by specifying each address individually. Here’s an example:
bitcoin-qt -address 1A1Bc1234567d -from -to A -amount 0.5
This command will send 0.5 bitcoins from your wallet to the specified addresses.
Conclusion
Understanding Bitcoin addresses is crucial for effective and secure Bitcoin transactions. By using this guide, you should now be able to identify the receiving address for your Bitcoin transactions when sending less than or more than 1 bitcoin. Remember to always use the bitcoin-qt command-line tool or check your wallet settings to confirm the transaction details.
Additional Resources
For more information on Bitcoin Core and its features, visit the [Bitcoin.org]( which provides a comprehensive guide to the platform.