How to prove Exchange wallet addresses?

[afduggirala]

I send BTC to a BTC address provided by an Exchange site (say Bitstamp). Lets say this BTC does not get to my acccount. How do I prove the BTC address I sent the BTC to BELONGS to that Exchange? A screenshot is certainly not good enough right?

[1715085283]

1715085283

[1715085283]

1715085283

[1715085283]

1715085283

[Potato Chips]

In most cases the transaction ID will do since everyone can check it in any block explorers

However if the exchange denies it (although I don't think they will if its really theirs) you have to use a specific explorer like this one: https://www.walletexplorer.com.
They have the records of the addresses of most exchanges including bitstamp although I don't know if it's 100% accurate but I've used this and so far it's accurate.

[buwaytress]

You can't, not really, not unless the exchange has identified the address as belonging to it. Since it's your user generated deposit address, I'm thinking this is unlikely.

However, if you were patient enough, you could keep tracking the transactions from that address. The way exchanges work, whatever you deposit to the address assigned to you is periodically transferred away into other addresses or wallets owned by the exchange. Some exchanges do mark some addresses as theirs (cold storage, for example) and if you track long enough, the outputs could end up travelling a chain into those known/associated addresses. The tool Potato Chips posted somewhat helps.

Even then, this does not prove anything. They can still claim you send BTC to someone who then transferred to them. But the link provides some basis for your case.

This is one of other dangers of using third party services. You rely on a promise from them, to honour deposits and withdrawals. You're usually advised only to send Bitcoin to people you trust - and it's good practice sometimes to ask people to prove ownership of an address.