Address Balance Question

[john2323]

Hi,

Newbie here so please bear with me. So, I sent bitcoin from an exchange to 3 different addresses in my hardware wallet belonging to the same account and I can see how much sent to them in blockchain.info or other blockchain explorer.

Now I know address can be generated infinite times and is advised to use different ones. Also I want to see my balance online but don't want to plug in my hardware wallet every time neither interested in giving out my xpub as that can lead to anyone seeing all my future transactions.

My questions is : When bitcoin is sent out from my hardware wallet will that show it is being sent from any of the 3 addresses or from a totally new address generated by my wallet ?
If it is from any of the 3 address, then I believe watching those 3 address will show my total balance. Am I right or no ?

Thanks !

[xYakult]

Hi,

Newbie here so please bear with me. So, I sent bitcoin from an exchange to 3 different addresses in my hardware wallet belonging to the same account and I can see how much sent to them in blockchain.info or other blockchain explorer.

Now I know address can be generated infinite times and is advised to use different ones. Also I want to see my balance online but don't want to plug in my hardware wallet every time neither interested in giving out my xpub as that can lead to anyone seeing all my future transactions.

My questions is : When bitcoin is sent out from my hardware wallet will that show it is being sent from any of the 3 addresses or from a totally new address generated by my wallet ?
If it is from any of the 3 address, then I believe watching those 3 address will show my total balance. Am I right or no ?

Thanks !

When you send your coins, the input will be from your address(s) that have balance, for example in your case, lets say your 3 addresses have 1btc balance each and you decided to send 2.5btc to address x then the sending address will be your 3 addresses and the balance of it will be returned to one of your used addresses or it will go to a new address generated by your wallet

[buwaytress]

You're advised to use different addresses for each transaction only if privacy (not to be confused with anonymity) is a concern to you, since transactions can be tracked and over time and behaviour, linked to you. I don't mind certain addresses associated to me - for example the one on my profile is used when I need to prove ownership as I can sign from that address.

- You can always check the balance associated with your address by looking it up on any block explorer (anyone can do this). You don't have to bring your wallet online to see this.
- When you spend coins, the addresses associated are always shown. So yes, if you only have coins at those 3 addresses, and you spend them, they will show up on the transaction id if looked up on an explorer. Any balance of the inputs should be transferred to a new address if you have "change addresses" enabled. Otherwise, they'll be returned to the originating address.
And yes, watching those 3 addresses will show your total balance, if you don't use change addresses.

[john2323]

When you send your coins, the input will be from your address(s) that have balance, for example in your case, lets say your 3 addresses have 1btc balance each and you decided to send 2.5btc to address x then the sending address will be your 3 addresses and the balance of it will be returned to one of your used addresses or it will go to a new address generated by your wallet

Thanks so much. That answers all.

You're advised to use different addresses for each transaction only if privacy (not to be confused with anonymity) is a concern to you, since transactions can be tracked and over time and behaviour, linked to you. I don't mind certain addresses associated to me - for example the one on my profile is used when I need to prove ownership as I can sign from that address.

- You can always check the balance associated with your address by looking it up on any block explorer (anyone can do this). You don't have to bring your wallet online to see this.
- When you spend coins, the addresses associated are always shown. So yes, if you only have coins at those 3 addresses, and you spend them, they will show up on the transaction id if looked up on an explorer. Any balance of the inputs should be transferred to a new address if you have "change addresses" enabled. Otherwise, they'll be returned to the originating address.
And yes, watching those 3 addresses will show your total balance, if you don't use change addresses.

Well privacy is not much of a concern at this point and I like using one or two addresses as you said as it helps checking my balance. And I don't think change address is enabled as I checked with one of the address already. So, hopefully I won't have to plug in my hardware wallet each time.  And thanks so much, you answered all of my question.