I use electrum when sending btc and receiving btc. I heard you should not be using the same btc address over and over. is that true or false? If so, how many times max should u use an address?
Like kolloh said, it's for privacy! TBH, in this forum, I only use 1 Bitcoin address, except in certain occasions(e.g. escrow, trade etc...). So it all comes down about your personal choice.
The reason i ask this is because whenever i receive btc, i always give the site my same btc address. So far in my electrum, i have over 100 transactions with this btc address. This is under the addresses tab, where its in the Change / Used area.
I have one address that shows over 100 transactions. Then there are about 10 addresses that has 1 tx only. I assume tx means transaction. The thing is my bitcoin balance is very small on the address that i have over 100 transactions. Many other address have even less btc on it. However, there are a few addresses that has the bulk of my bitcoin there.
So when i send btc to other people, is the address that is going to show to them always that address that i use that has that 100 plus tx address?
You can choose which address you want to send from if you don't want to send from a certain address. Remember, you must have enough Bitcoins in that address, or it will include bitcoins from other address(es) as inputs. As to how many inputs will be included will depend on bitcoins you are sending.
You must note that when you use bitcoins in different addresses as inputs in 1 transaction, everybody else will be able to know addresses your are in control of my checking that tx in blockchain explorer.
If so, should i change it to another address? Or i cannot do this?
Like I said earlier, it's up to you!
What is confusing is say i want to send x amount of btc. Where does the btc come from in the balances? Does it first come from the 100 plus tx one? But if theres not enough btc, then it goes to the next one on the list?
From
https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/80675121ce4882aa59ab98e662a2c3e8239602c6/lib/coinchooser.py#L212:
Maximize transaction priority. Select the oldest unspent
transaction outputs in your wallet, that are sufficient to cover
the spent amount. Then, remove any unneeded inputs, starting
with the smallest in value.
Unspent transaction output(UTXO):
https://bitcoin.org/en/glossary/unspent-transaction-outputhttps://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-transaction-really-works/Also what confuses me is when i receive btc from a site and give them that address with over 100 tx, then does the btc show up there or in the other 10 other addresses?
Bitcoins are received in the address you told them.
-snip-
Does it matter that i have over 100 tx on this one?
Not really! Except that everybody is able to track your "whole" transaction history if you only use 1 Bitcoin address.
Should i start using another btc address to send so it would be more anonymous? Because having 100 tx for one address is never a good idea right since it could be traced and many ppl say you dont want that?
IMHO, its better to use another address if you are using that as your "main" address. Actually, I suggest you use different addresses for different purposes. E.g. Address-1 for exchange, address-2 for business, address-3 for Bitcointalk etc...
For example i want to trade some btc for eth or litecoin for example on shapeshift. I read you can do this easily but if i do this, is it anonymous or can it be traced?
As long as ShapeShift or whatever exchange you are using, send transaction details to others, except the exchange you use, no one will be able to track you.
You can go for $ -> BTC -> LTC, instead of $ -> LTC to make it harder to track you. You *must* use different exchanges, otherwise they will be able to track you. Honestly, unless it's a large amount, they hardly track you.
I read its anonymous but then i always hear ppl say you shouldnt use an address more than once etc. Because for example even though i want to trade btc for eth for example, i definitely want it to be anonymous as i dont want there to be a record of it from shapeshift end. Or is there any a record of it from their end? Thanks.
They records Bitcoin address you send bitcoins from and your altcoin address.
Hi there. So i should give sites a different btc address every single time then? If thats the case, wouldn't it be possible to have bitcoin in over 50 + addresses?
Possibly.
When you say privacy, what do you mean exactly? You mean if someone wants to check how much btc you have in your wallet?
Don't confuse between "wallet" and "address". Balance shown in your wallet consists of bitcoins in all the addresses in said wallet. For example, say you have address-1 & address-2 in your wallet and you want send x bitcoins. Bitcoins shown in your "wallet" is enough to conduct a transaction. Assume, bitcoins sufficient for that transaction is in your second address, i.e. address-2. Consider, you have private key of address-1, but you don't have private key of address-2. Then unless you have enough bitcoins in address-1 or have private key of address-2, you won't be able to send x bitcoins from your wallet, because bitcoins in address-1 isn't sufficient.
If you can't understand above, let's consider it like this. You have a main account and there are 10 child-accounts in that main account. You must have different password to each child-account.
Assume your balance is:
- Main : $50
• child-account-1 : $10
• child-account-2 : $2
• child-account-3 : $3
• child-account-4 : $20
• child-account-5 : $15
Say, you want to withdraw $30. If it withdraws money in same way electron does, then it will take $10 from child-account-1, $3 from child-account-3 (to pay fee) and $20 from child-account-4. Then you must enter passwords of those 3 accounts to withdraw $30. When you conduct a transaction, there won't be any mention of other child-accounts, here, child-account-2 & 5, in the transaction details. So, although all child-accounts are in your "main account, unless you withdraw money from a certain account, nobody will be able to connect one child-account to other.
You used 3 child-accounts in 1 transaction and therefore, others will be able to know they all have one owner as it will be shown in transaction details. However, instead of sending money from 3 accounts at "once", you choose to send money from different child-accounts in separate transaction with time intervals, nobody will be able to connect any of these child-accounts to other unless you specify or if you use more than one child-account in one transaction.
Just like that, when you send bitcoins from your wallet, unless you use unspent amount from more than one addresses in one transaction, others won't be able to connect between your addresses.
Main account = Electrum wallet
Child account = Bitcoin address
Unspent transaction output = unspent amount
For example if i give a site my btc address the one with 100 tx, they can view the transaction and see how much btc i have in that address right? And it would show exactly how much it would show in that address?
Yes. If you use a blockchain explorer, you can see every transaction of that address and if you have used UTXOs from different addresses in one transaction, they will know addresses you are in control of. Not all, but addresses used in that transaction.
Also if i use same address all the time, is it bad because then its not anonymous? For example say i want to trade btc for eth or litecoin with shapeshift. Would this should a trace i did a transaction of btc for eth with shapeshift if i use an address that i used over 100 times etc? Or that does not matter?
They will save details about your transaction.
But how could i choose which address that i want to send the btc from?
I'm pretty sure you can choose address you want to send bitcoins from. If not, right click an address and click "send from"(iirc).
For example right now i have 11 addresses or so that has btc in it. So when i send btc, it will always show that it came from that 100 tx address to the other person no matter how much btc i send or not?
It depends on the amount you want to send and unspent amount in your Bitcoin addresses.
-snip-
Also when i receive btc, i should start giving them other addresses that has 1 transaction?
You can either use them or send them a new Bitcoin address.
Lot of addresses that i have btc in has 1 tx only. So how much max tx should i use an address before i no longer use it?
There is no "minimum" or "maximum" number of times a Bitcoin address should be used. You can reuse one until you feel it is no longer "safe". Though, for anonymity, less time you reuse, the better.
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