why electrum split my transaction to multiple inputs

[new19980]

Hi guys i did withdraw 0.0317 BTC from my electrum wallet to another electrum wallet
this btc was on the same adress ending at df3zh but after sending i got 6 inputs instead of one
i think that incrasead the fees as well i paid 15$ for fees

however the second transaction i made from the same adress was on one input here the transaction ID

my question is why the first transaction get split to 6 inputs despite that im sending from one adress
the only difference is that the btc on first transaction was accumulated till i reached 0.0317 mean i did deposit small amounts over time but on the same adress
and on the second transaction i did deposit 0.0386 then i withdraw it at once i thought depositing to the same adress instead of changing the adress each time
will avoid the high fees of transactions since i will be withdrawing from one input and one adress but if electrum splitting the inputs despite if the source is one single adress so i will still be paying high fees anyway

[jrrsparkles]

Hi guys i did withdraw 0.0317 BTC from my electrum wallet to another electrum wallet
this btc was on the same adress ending at df3zh but after sending i got 6 inputs instead of one
i think that incrasead the fees as well i paid 15$ for fees
https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/transactions/btc/a1bc0aeba054fa9bffcb320cd7a661299a316a96f560dc67c295e69a4d216fc8

Electrum doesn't get to decide the input, it solely depends on how you received it and your address bc1q2ufv9d0qu49mkw32s2q0f5s42xeq4y967df3zh got the balance of ‎0.03204544BTC from 6 different transactions it means 6 UTXOs, so when you decide to spend it all then all UTXO's will be considered as input so the fee will be according to its weight.

If you want to reduce the fee then you need to consolidate your inputs whenever the fees are low.

[Dec 2023] Fees are high, wait for opportunity to Consolidate your small inputs, you can watch this thread to know when you can consolidate effectively.

[new19980]

Hi guys i did withdraw 0.0317 BTC from my electrum wallet to another electrum wallet
this btc was on the same adress ending at df3zh but after sending i got 6 inputs instead of one
i think that incrasead the fees as well i paid 15$ for fees
https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/transactions/btc/a1bc0aeba054fa9bffcb320cd7a661299a316a96f560dc67c295e69a4d216fc8

Electrum doesn't get to decide the input, it solely depends on how you received it and your address bc1q2ufv9d0qu49mkw32s2q0f5s42xeq4y967df3zh got the balance of ‎0.03204544BTC from 6 different transactions it means 6 UTXOs, so when you decide to spend it all then all UTXO's will be considered as input so the fee will be according to its weight.

If you want to reduce the fee then you need to consolidate your inputs whenever the fees are low.

[Dec 2023] Fees are high, wait for opportunity to Consolidate your small inputs, you can watch this thread to know when you can consolidate effectively.

so if im accumulating btc it doesnt matter if im receiving on one adress or different adresses right ?

[jrrsparkles]

so if im accumulating btc it doesnt matter if im receiving on one adress or different adresses right ?

Yes, in terms of fees because the fee of BTC tx is based on its weight, not the value so more inputs and outputs then more fee needs to be paid.

If you were about to spend only part of your balance then you can use the coin control feature available on electrum to select the required inputs to reduce the fee as much as possible.

[un_rank]

so if im accumulating btc it doesnt matter if im receiving on one adress or different adresses right ?

It does matter. You can consolidate small UTXOs from one address, but cannot do so from multiple addresses.

How bitcoin works is that each transaction is considered unique and stored separately on the chain.
If you receive $30, $50 and $20 into one address totaling to $100, you have 3 separate inputs. If you want to send $80 to someone, electrum can choose from 2 or the entire inputs to make it up. You can control this using coin control.
Coin control allows you to select the $50 and $30 inputs for the transaction.
If you do not do this, the system can choose the $50, $20 and then $10 from the $30 input, leaving you with a change of $20

Why it matters if you receive into one or multiple addresses is that you can consolidate all 3 inputs by sending them to another of your wallet when fees are very low, so you will have just one input if you want to send out later when fees might be higher.

- Jay -

[Zaguru12]

It does matter. You can consolidate small UTXOs from one address, but cannot do so from multiple addresses.

Typo error?, I think you can actually consolidate all UTXOs on all addresses in the same wallet. The only is it actually exposes a little bit one’s privacy, most especially if some coins were received from exchange with KYC.

[pooya87]

That's because Bitcoin does not work based on your balance but instead based on UTXOs aka coins you've received.

In this case it is more like physical cash. For example if you receive 5 bank notes ($10+$20+$20+%50+$1), your (physical) wallet that you keep in your pocket will have to hold 5 bank notes. It doesn't have a balance! And when you want to pay for something with cash you'll have to select from those bank notes and pay using one or more of them. For example if you want to pay for something worth $1, you can give them all your cash and receive a single $100 bill in return.

It's the same in Bitcoin. When you receive 0.0001BTC+0.005BTC+0.002BTC you have 3 UTXOs or coins. When you want to make a payment, you'll choose one or more of these coins to make the payment.

[nc50lc]

-snip-
so if im accumulating btc it doesnt matter if im receiving on one adress or different adresses right ?

Yes, both cases will just result with the same number of UTXO.
Please read the part of my reply yesterday in your other thread about the "Coins" tab, here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5479071.msg63390432#msg63390432
If you checked your Electrum's coins tab, you wouldn't be surprised about the multiple inputs of the transaction mentioned in this thread.

Or are you using the android version where it's not available?
Nevertheless, the provided explanation should be enough to understand it.

[tranthidung]

Hi guys i did withdraw 0.0317 BTC from my electrum wallet to another electrum wallet

Withdraw is more fitted to use with case when you withdraw your bitcoin from an account on centralized exchange, to another exchange account or to your own wallet.

If it is sending from one Electrum wallet to another Electrum wallet, it is more fitted to use Sending.

this btc was on the same adress ending at df3zh but after sending i got 6 inputs instead of one
i think that incrasead the fees as well i paid 15$ for fees
https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/transactions/btc/a1bc0aeba054fa9bffcb320cd7a661299a316a96f560dc67c295e69a4d216fc8

That transactions has 6 inputs (also 6 UTXOs), and you send those inputs to one receiving address, that is 1 output.

This practice is also called as Consolidate your inputs.

Read more

• https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/transactions
• https://learnmeabitcoin.com/beginners/outputs

however the second transaction i made from the same adress was on one input here the transaction ID
https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/transactions/btc/62e7a693f005fc14c0ae5ad0277360ff4a570c1cfa2baec477019fde7842d929

It's invalid!

[Pmalek]

Don't think of Bitcoin in terms of different addresses. What matters are UTXOs. Regardless if you have these UTXOs in one address or multiple ones, you will pay 2, 3, 4, or more times in fees, depending on how many there are.

Each time someone sends you some Bitcoin, you will have a new UTXO you can spend in the future. That's all you need to remember, and not what you have in which addresses. When you consolidate your coins, you convert multiple UTXOs of smaller values into one big-value one.