Bitcoin Forum

Hi there,

I need to clarify the following question: When a btc server generates an address for wallet/account, is it unique? I mean, for instance, if I am sending bitcoins from coinbase to another wallet how does coinbase knows where to send?

Appreciate all the help.

Thanks

There are so many possible bitcoin addresses - I think it's comparable to the number of atoms in the universe - that for all practical purposes you can say that when an address is generated it is definitely going to be unique.

Technically there is no guarantee that it is unique - two people could generate the same address - but the chances of this happening are so small that it can be ignored.

Thanks for your answer.

But my concern is, when I use an API to access a btc server and request a new address to my wallet/account and then want to send some amount from coinbase for instance, I dont need to worry about it, right? I mean, how does coinbase send it to the right place?

(sorry for my newbie questions :( )


Thanks

Never apologize for being a newbie.

No coins ever get actually get sent anywhere. When you tell Coinbase to send coins to an address they just tell the rest of the network that the address you gave them now owns those coins. As long as you control that address you can then 'spend' them, but no actual coins ever get moved anywhere, its just that the right to spend them moves from one address to another. Does that make sense?

Since you are a newbie, please understand that the Bitcoin system at the technical level probably does not work the way you think it does at all.  There are a lot of abstractions that the user interface uses to make it easier for us humans to talk about transfering control of value, and those abstractions often lead people to assume incorrect things about what is actually happening.

(For instance, at the protocol level, there aren't actually any bitcoin addresses or bitcoins at all, transactions get "sent" but they don't get sent "to a bitcoin address")


What API are you using?


Are you running your own server, or are you using a service provided by someone else?


Wallets and accounts are not the same thing.

If you are using a wallet, then you have exclusive access to your bitcoins.  You are fully responsible for keeping the wallet secure and backed up.

If you are using an account, then you assign control of you bitcoin value to a business. The business takes responsibility for keeping control of that value secure and backed up.  In exchange, they promise to assign control of an equivalent amount of their value wherever you ask whenever you ask.  You have to decide if you trust them to keep that promise.


Correct.  As long as you are using well written wallet software or a well run and trustworthy service for your account, then you just tell Coinbase what address to use. Coinbase then broadcasts a transaction that gives your wallet or service control over the bitcoin value.


You tell them the address to use.  They create a transaction that re-assigns control of that bitcoin value to the entity that generated the address.  The wallet (or service) you are using then uses the private keys associated with the address to re-assign control elsewhere when you want to transfer control of the bitcoin value from there.

Check out the video lessons in CoinableS post:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=990348.0

To learn the basics about bitcoin, you can watch this series for free:
http://bitcoin.cbtnuggets.com/

When coinbase (or your bitcoin node) generates a bitcoin address, it will be unique.

@DannyHamilton

thank you so much for your complete answer.
In fact, I am developing a software application that interacts with a btc server, I am running someone else btc server only for testing purposes. I am using easybitcoin API.



@cloverme
thank you for the valuable resources, I will take a look!

Thanks @Cryptorials