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Bitcoin has used multiple standards over the years, sometimes simultaneously.

Bitcoin Addresses and How to Use them

原文作者：SatoshiLabs

Ah Jian is a fan of Ethereum

In the pursuit of better technology, some of the ancillary things inevitably get a little messy. While the formatting of bitcoin addresses has changed a lot, it's really not something that the average person needs to care about. Bitcoin has used multiple standards over the years, sometimes at the same time, which makes these strange strings even scarier, too scarier.

The different types of Bitcoin addresses are essentially cross-compatible, meaning that money from any one address can be sent to another. If you're having trouble sending funds to a certain address, it's probably your wallet client, just try to upgrade your wallet to support the address types described below.

Generally speaking, the wallet software you use will manage your address for you and prevent you from sending funds to an invalid address. Wallets, however, can be inconsistent. The Trezor Suite app, which was recently released in public beta, prevents you from sending money to invalid addresses, supports all common address types, and helps you avoid overpaying fees. This last question is common among popular wallet apps, especially during busy Internet times.

What do different types of Bitcoin addresses look like?

To be comfortable sending and receiving Bitcoin, you need to know two things: how to identify a valid address, and what type of address to use.

Most of the time, you should prefer to use native isolated witness addresses (also known as "Bech32 addresses"), which always start with bc1 At the beginning. This address is best because it uses the data most efficiently in structuring transactions, and therefore has the lowest fees, since Bitcoin fees are priced by the amount of data being traded.

Native isolation witness. The address looks like this:

bc1qj89046x7zv6pm4n00qgqp505nvljnfp6xfznyw

However, not all wallet software supports Bech32. A more general address format is the "pay to script hash (P2SH)" address, also known as the "nested isolated witness address". From a transaction fee standpoint, it is also more efficient than traditional address types, and can be recognized at a glance because it is used as a transaction fee. 3 At the beginning. If you are not sure whether the destination address for your transaction supports quarantined witness, then the nested quarantined witness address generally does.

Isolation witness. The address looks like this:

3EmUH8Uh9EXE7axgyAeBsCc2vdUdKkDqWK

If you are using older wallet software, you may need to use the traditional pay to public Key hash (P2PKH) address. Traditional addresses are so called because they are seen as remnants of earlier technology. Such addresses generally have higher fees, but are still common. You can choose from an address whether or not to use 1 Start by identifying if it is a P2PKH address.

The traditional P2PKH & have spent The address looks like this:

1MbeQFmHo9b69kCfFa6yBr7BQX4NzJFQq9

Get in the habit of checking the target address every time you initiate a transaction to make sure it hasn't been tampered with. Although the beginning of an address can help you identify the type of address, the length of the address can vary depending on the type. Bech 32 addresses are 42 characters long -- the latest address type -- while P2SH and P2PKH addresses are only 32 characters long.

What is a valid Bitcoin address for receiving funds?

All of your types of addresses derive from the same source, your mnemonic words (also known as "seed words"). Here is an example of a seed word from which all three types of addresses can be derived:

gentle melt morning mother surprise situate lens beef cloud inquiry genuine feel

With a mnemonic, you can create a valid bitcoin receipt address of any type, as long as your wallet software supports it. With Trezor Suite, you can generate any of these types of addresses with just a few mouse clicks.

- Use the menu "Add new Account" in the sidebar on the "Accounts" page

Because of the nature of bitcoin development and upgrades, you may encounter more address types over time, but addresses are backward compatible. A Bech32 address can send funds to a P2SH or P2PKH address without any concern. You can also send funds to Bech32 and P2SH addresses using traditional addresses; However, if you are using an older wallet software, the software may not recognise the Bech32 and P2SH addresses and therefore prevent you from sending them, even though the transaction is likely to be successful. It's just an outdated protection mechanism, not a bitcoin problem, you just upgrade the software and the deal goes through.

When in doubt, you can safely use the traditional address as it has the broadest support. While the wallet software you use may give you some restrictions, as long as it allows you to sign and send transactions, you have nothing to worry about. Bitcoin addresses are cross-compatible, and each type of address can send funds to any type of address. For maximum flexibility and minimal confusion, upgrade to Trezor Suite, where you have complete control over any address.

Why do address types keep changing?

Among the address types described here, the P2SH and Bech32 types are related to isolated witness upgrades, which are upgrades to a transaction format that allow more transactions to fit into a block, increasing network throughput. This also means that the benefits provided by isolated Witness can only be enjoyed when transactions are initiated from isolated Witness compatible addresses such as P2SH and Bech32; Moreover, the type of receiving address does not matter. From a privacy perspective, it is important to ensure that the remaining cryptocurrencies in a transaction are returned to the same type of address. Trezor Suite will take care of it automatically.

How do I get a Bitcoin address

Newcomers may be confused about how to get an address where they can collect money. It's as simple as downloading a wallet app like the one on this recommended list. Wallet software generates a mnemonic for you and uses this mnemonic to generate usable addresses and show them to you. A good rule of thumb is to use each address only once, either for receiving or sending. Because a single mnemonic can generate an infinite number of addresses, you don't have to worry about running out of addresses, which gives you extra privacy.

If you have a Trezor hardware wallet, you can use The Trezor Suite desktop software to create and manage Bitcoin addresses. The mnemonics used in these addresses are generated and stored in your Trezor hardware, so no one can see your mnemonics or copy your wallet. You can also generate a new address for each transaction directly from Suite.

Look up your bitcoin receipt address

If you want to send Bitcoins to your wallet, you need to determine your receipt address. In Trezor Suite, you need to select the account you want to receive money from and click the "Receive" button. You can then see a list of the active addresses that you have previously generated, as well as a preview of the latest unused addresses. Click "Show Full Address" to see the latest unused billing address. After clicking, check that the address displayed on the screen matches the address displayed on your hardware wallet device. Then you can copy the address and send it to the person who sent it to you.

As you can see, we are using the Bech32 address starting with BC1, but unless the sender also uses a Bech or P2SH address, they will not be able to take advantage of the low fee benefits provided by SegWit. Always use a Bech32 address to save on transaction fees.

If this is your first collection, it is advisable to initiate a test trade before transferring all funds. This may seem a little overcautious, but it can counteract the uncertainty for someone new to the world. Try sending a small amount of Bitcoins (say, in coins) to test your billing address and wait for the test transaction to be confirmed before you send in more money.

How do I send Bitcoin to an address

When you need to pay someone in Bitcoin, all you need to do is get the recipient's address. With Trezor Suite, simply go to the "Send" bar on your account page, type in the address, and then check that the characters in the text box match the address you got in the first place, because there's always a chance that your computer's clipboard could be hijacked by malware.

After entering the address, set how much you're willing to pay for the transaction. Higher fees give miners an incentive to package your deals first, so they get paid faster. In the chart below, we used Trezor Suite's recommended maximum fee, hoping to have the transaction online in 10 minutes (the fastest the Bitcoin network can do).

It's a good idea to check your fees. The automatic Settings of some wallet apps can greatly overestimate fees. Even in busy times, you'll pay only a few dollars, not much more. If the fee suggested by the wallet seems too high to you, look for the advanced option and enter a number yourself.

There are plenty of tools on the web that can help you see how much people are paying for transactions, like the second chart on the site. As you can see in the chart below, most exchanges are paying less than 50 satos per byte, so Trezor Suite's recommended 51 satos per byte should be available within 10 minutes.

How do I retrieve bitcoins sent to the wrong address?

In most cases, bitcoin sent to the wrong recipient can't be recovered if it's an invalid address.

In rare cases, if you know who the target address (valid address) of your transaction belongs to, you can try to contact them and with luck they will be willing to send the funds back to you.

If both options fail, the last option is to use OP_RETURN to send a message to the unexpected receipt address describing your error and asking for it back in good faith. This is also likely to fail, so the way to prevent you from sending funds to the wrong address is always to double-check and double-check that the transaction is going to the wrong address before you press send.

The sad truth is that while many wallet apps do a good job of identifying valid addresses, there are instances where users send money to the wrong type of address, such as bitcoin to a litecoin address, and some wallets are undetectable.

In this case, the network will not be able to recognize that it is a wrong transaction because from the wallet's point of view, the transaction is just like any other transaction and is a valid transaction. In this case, whether or not you get your money back depends on which network the address you put in belongs to. If you send money to a Litecoin address, you should still be able to get your bitcoin back (even if it's a Litecoin address) as long as you have the private key to that address. But if you don't have a private key to that address, there's almost no chance of recovery. If that happens, you'll have to face the music. Also, remember to get a better wallet.

(Translator's note: It is not possible for users to send bitcoin to the Litecoin blockchain in this way. They just sent the bitcoins to a bitcoin address that overlapped with a known Litecoin address. Some blockchain addresses are universal, meaning that a valid Litecoin address can also be a valid Bitcoin address, so if you have the private key that generated the litecoin address, that means you can control the same Bitcoin address and get it back. But if you fill in the address of a non-generic blockchain network, you're out of luck.)