What a Change Address Is and Why Wallets Create One
A change address receives the leftover balance from a spent UTXO using an internal derivation path to preserve user privacy.
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Contents
- How the UTXO Model Generates Change
- The Internal Derivation Path in BIP44
- Why Wallets Avoid Reusing the Sending Address
- How Change Shows Up in a Wallet
- FAQ
- Sources
- Keywords:
- change address · UTXO · BIP44 · derivation path · address reuse
Guides on the same subject
- EVM Address Format Explained: Structure & Usage
An EVM address is 0x plus 40 hex characters: the last 20 bytes of the Keccak-256 hash of a secp256k1 public key, with an EIP-55 checksum.
- Derivation Path Explained: What m/44'/0'/0'/0/0 Means
What each number in a derivation path means, which paths Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets use, and why a restored wallet can show a zero balance.
- What Is a Bitcoin Address and How Does It Work?
A Bitcoin address is a checksummed code for how coins get locked: to a key hash, a script hash or a Taproot key. What 1, 3, bc1q and bc1p mean and cost.
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