What if you plan to buy BTC for big money: Would you reuse a tested address?

[billllib]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

Or would you trust the wallet's algorithm and use a new address, even if you buy for a lot of money?

Fun fact: there were 5 of us and it felt like 8 different points of view! :-)

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[Oshosondy]

There is nothing that you are testing. If the seed phrase is correct and it was used to create the address, you can send the coins to the address at ones, or send it to more than one addresses for privacy reason.

Even for small amount of bitcoin, you should not use bitcoin address twice.

[nakamura12]

As long as the wallet is not compromised then it's okay for you to use it again. Well, if you prefer to different wallet or different address then that's also okay as long as it is not compromised. The only concern here is that you didn't send it to other wallet address that isn't yours which is to double or even triple check that it's the right address. It's your choice by the way if you use the address more than once or not but as you can see in the post above, that's what I will advice too for you to do.

[Zaguru12]

I don’t understand what you mean about testing address or wallet. But just as said above when you create a wallet you insert back the seed phrase to confirm the wallet or better still use another wallet that supports the seed phrase format and try to import this same seed there (make sure it’s offline, if the wallet you’re creating is actually a cold wallet) if the seed phrase is correct you can do what so ever you wish to that wallet and it’s corresponding addresses. Just as you have said it’s better not to reuse an address for privacy sake no matter the amount of bitcoin you’re buying there.

[Z-tight]

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

You do not have to do this, what you must do is to ensure that you have downloaded the wallet from the original website and verified the download. Moving on, you must also make sure that you run the wallet in an airgapped device that is completely disconnected from the internet or in a hardware wallet. If you do all this, you can simply take any of the wallet addresses to receive the funds.

Take note that your funds is only as safe as the device you store it in, so you must ensure you use it in a very safe environment and avoid reusing addresses because it is bad for privacy.

[hatshepsut93]

You can test the address by signing a message with it. If the message can be verified, then you own the private key corresponding to that address and have nothing to worry about. When I was a newbie I also worried about the need to test wallets and addresses, but these days I know that if you are using a proven wallet like Core or Electrum, you will never encounter a problem with addresses not working, because it never happened to anyone.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

This is obviously how plebs would think, probably because they are not yet familiar with the system and because you and your friends are scared that you might lose your coin if you send it to a new address that has not yet been used.

Well, just like the first comment said, there is no reason why you are testing. Most trusted Bitcoin wallets are usually designed in such a way that after you have used an address to make a deposit to that wallet, any time you want to deposit to that same wallet, you will be provided with a different address. That's the wallet mechanism of the wallet, which is usually for security sake, so you don't need to be afraid of asset loss.

OP, even if you decide to go by your idea by sending just a small amount of Bitcoin to the new unused address, anytime you  try to make another deposit, you will still be provided with a new address.

[boyptc]

It doesn't matter, what matters is that you have the private keys secured and it's not compromised. But for the sake of your anonymity then just have to choose another address with that private keys that you own.

Whichever works for you the best since it is your own money, do it for you.

Just don't use exchanges for keeping with that amount.

[Text]

If I were to purchase a significant amount of Bitcoin, say around 10,000 USD, I probably wouldn't reuse a tested address. I would prefer to use a new address because my top priority is security and privacy. However, whatever choice is made, it's always important to double-check the receiving address before sending any funds. Use a reliable and reputable wallet with a good track record, and consider a hardware wallet for maximum security when dealing with large amounts of BTC.

[Darker45]

If you do this, what stops you from testing everything? You would want to test the address whether it can receive, then you also test the address whether it can send, and then you would also test your private keys or seed phrase whether it can indeed recover your funds, and so on.

It might be safer to do this, but I personally never tried doing this even when relatively big amounts are involved. Perhaps because I've never encountered a problem in which an address can neither receive nor send.

But it counts that you choose reliable wallets and that you download them from official sites.

[Yamane_Keto]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

The larger the amount, the more difficult it is to hide it. It is true that using the same address will reduce your privacy, but you can still use other methods to enhance your privacy, mixers, connecting to the wallet via Tor, and using full node.
using a new address for each deposit does not mean that you have enhanced your privacy if you Use SPV wallet (without TOR) or post your MPK publicly.

[franky1]

top 3 rich list
        address                                                          total balance       times it reused address
1   34xp4vRoCGJym3xR7yCVPFHoCNxv4Twseo       248,597 BTC       451
2   bc1qgdjqv0av3q5...........90ecnvqqjwvw97        204,010 BTC       147   
3   bc1ql49ydapnjafl5..........pdgmxy98859v2         127,136 BTC       200

[pooya87]

Or would you trust the wallet's algorithm and use a new address, even if you buy for a lot of money?

Your question answers itself in a way because of the contradiction inside of it.

If you are worried about the "wallet's algorithm" when generating a new address then you should also be worried about that wallet in general when doing a lot of other things such as signing your transaction, generating the first key in first place (ie. having used a weak RNG) and stuff like that.
This means you should not even be using that wallet if you don't trust its security. Testing it once with any amount is not going to be enough to trust it.

The solution is first find an old and trusted wallet that has been around for a very long time, is used by a lot of people and also had its code reviewed by enough developers to not have such serious bugs in such basic functionalities like generating keys, addresses and handling transactions. Something like bitcoin core or electrum.

[OcTradism]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

What is true is true and it is true for both small and big capital.

Logically when you have more money, bigger capital, you must take care more about your privacy. It is quite simple to answer you, if you use change address (avoid reuse address) with small capital, you will have to do the same with bigger capital.

Privacy is lost when you are careless and it does not care you are poor or rich.

[m2017]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.

Everything is just the opposite; for small amounts I allow the reuse of old addresses. Although why do this (as if there is a shortage), if you can generate countless new addresses.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

It is safer to distribute a significant amount across different addresses (what is called diversification).

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

Why not make a test transaction of, say, $100-200, and then buy for $1000-2000? You don't lose anything, you just spend a little more time, but at the same time make sure that everything works properly.

Or would you trust the wallet's algorithm and use a new address, even if you buy for a lot of money?

There is a saying: trust, but verify. Wallets too.

Fun fact: there were 5 of us and it felt like 8 different points of view! :-)

The more different points of view, the more options from which you can choose the right one.

[Z-tight]

But for the sake of your anonymity then just have to choose another address with that private keys that you own.

Using fresh addresses is good for privacy, but just that alone does not make you anonymous. Even the BTC blockchain is public and transparent and then if you send your funds into centralized exchanges, you obviously no longer have any privacy to protect. If you want anonymity or a much better privacy, you must first be running your own node, once you connect to third party servers, the host already has information about your IP and your BTC address, you must also use p2p exchanges and privacy solutions like CoinJoin implementations.

[Nrcewker]

It’s completely safe to use a newly generated address. Just we need to make sure that while copying and pasting, the address matches with each other. Double check it multiple time and then send the coins. Moreover use offline wallet to store or hold the coins. That’s more safe and no malware can harm the process. Alternatively you can also use old address also. But the privacy here can be hampered if someone is tracking the address.

[Patikno]

This is an interesting case study to see the different views on how to approach a large impending transaction. For me, nothing is more of a priority than transaction security, that is, I will put aside privacy if it refers to large transactions.

Steps I will do:
1. Ensure that I can access the address again, by writing down the phrases on offline media (paper or something). Then, re-enter the phrases in the wallet.
2. After the wallet & address section is complete, then I will ensure that I will send to the correct address, by doing a test first with a smaller amount.
3. If the first & second stages go well, I will then go all-in sending the bitcoins I have to that destination address.

No one wants to experience the same thing as a doctor who wants to kill his girlfriend or one of our bitcoin OGs.

[bluebit25]

Yep, the story "one person has ten opinions" 

Is it really that complicated? The question you should answer for yourself in that debate. I think you probably received useful answers and opinions from forum members.

Personally, I feel like @Z-tight shared, as long as you have ensured the mentioned things, reusing old addresses is no problem. It's similar to wearing shoes you bought years ago if they're still usable.

[hugeblack]

If you're that concerned about privacy, start using Monero or GRiN.
It is true that reusing the address may show the total Bitcoin you have, but if you do not know how to manage your wallet, it will quickly possible to link all your addresses. Therefore, not reusing the addresses did not enhance your privacy but on the contrary, increased your fees.

[lovesmayfamilis]

If you are using multiple addresses from the right wallet, and if one is fine, why should you doubt the other? The problem may be more about you than your wallet. If you know how to correctly store your seed phrases without confusing which one belongs where then you should not have any problems. Take care of where and in what wallet you are going to store your large sums.

[Z-tight]

Therefore, not reusing the addresses did not enhance your privacy but on the contrary, increased your fees.

That would depend on the utxo's and not if you use one address or not, i.e. you'll pay a lower fee if you use three different addresses with one input each, than someone with one address, but with more than 10 inputs in it.

I feel like @Z-tight shared, as long as you have ensured the mentioned things, reusing old addresses is no problem. It's similar to wearing shoes you bought years ago if they're still usable.

Sure there is no security problem in reusing addresses, it is only a problem of privacy.

[arwin100]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

Or would you trust the wallet's algorithm and use a new address, even if you buy for a lot of money?

Fun fact: there were 5 of us and it felt like 8 different points of view! :-)

Nothing wrong to reuse the wallet address we use if we know for ourselves that we didn't use this to any random activities around and we didn't try to submit it on unknown platforms. Also we make sure to have the private key since for this we can assure our safety.

But if you don't know about this and unsure the safety of your funds since you participate on different programs then much better if you could just create a new wallet since for this you are aware with the risk the can make sure that the wallet used is safe since this new so provably no entities sending something strange that can compromise your wallet. I would trust the wallet provider if I know they are reputable and running for long since there's less risk for getting scam or hack we can possibly encounter from them.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

There is nothing that you are testing. If the seed phrase is correct and it was used to create the address, you can send the coins to the address at ones, or send it to more than one addresses for privacy reason.

Even for small amount of bitcoin, you should not use bitcoin address twice.

Exactly that.
I opened new wallets for certain deals or whatever, for example when i meet a seller and buy in person. Mostly I create a new seed/wallet for that transaction, just for safety reasons.

And this wallet/address obviously has never been used and I don't see any reason I would need to.

[thecodebear]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

Or would you trust the wallet's algorithm and use a new address, even if you buy for a lot of money?

Fun fact: there were 5 of us and it felt like 8 different points of view! :-)

Why do you think you have to test an address? All addresses work. It's not like some addresses magically don't work well.

But you should not reuse addresses after you've sent a tx FROM that address. So make an address, and send as much bitcoin as you want to it, whether its a little bit or you are buying "big money", doesn't matter, if you are accumulating over time you can keep sending money to that address.

[Agbe]

Op there is no need to test your wallet or address and there is no need to use new address for the transaction or the investment.  If you trust the wallet you are using then there is no need to use another one. Just use it if you know that the wallet is secure and has not been compromised. Even the large transaction you can still reuse of the old address but it you want to change it because of privacy then that is your personal decision because nobody knows how you have been using the old address.

[www.Gambler.Casino]

I have used my wallet address many times. If the amount was more than $15,000-30,000, then I will create a new address.

[boyptc]

But for the sake of your anonymity then just have to choose another address with that private keys that you own.

Using fresh addresses is good for privacy, but just that alone does not make you anonymous. Even the BTC blockchain is public and transparent and then if you send your funds into centralized exchanges, you obviously no longer have any privacy to protect.

Yeah, when you send btc and it steps to the exchanges then you're no longer anonymous and they've got an idea already on who you are since most exchanges today require kyc unless you use the non-kyc.

If you want anonymity or a much better privacy, you must first be running your own node, once you connect to third party servers, the host already has information about your IP and your BTC address, you must also use p2p exchanges and privacy solutions like CoinJoin implementations.

I agree, solutions like that will increase your privacy.

I have used my wallet address many times. If the amount was more than $15,000-30,000, then I will create a new address.

Well, it does not really matter at all but on this case just as what everyone is telling. You do what makes you feel safe and private.

[adaseb]

I had this fear also back in the day. The way I worked around it was, I would basically sign offline a test message and see if the signatures matched, if they did then it means the coins can be spent.

Another method is just use one address and see if it work to send it back and if it does then send everything else to the next address in your wallet. I understand how you feel, you don’t want to HODL for 10 years only to find out you can never spend this money.

[billllib]

Wow, so many answers! Thanks to everyone so far. I need to dig through all of this, so many good thoughts and explanations! It will probably take me a bit to process it all!

But I'll be back!

[boyptc]

Wow, so many answers! Thanks to everyone so far. I need to dig through all of this, so many good thoughts and explanations! It will probably take me a bit to process it all!

But I'll be back!

That's fine.

Take your time and take the process fun as there's no need for you to rush with this matter of reusing or not your btc address if ever you'll buy with your money.

What's important is you know how to keep yourself safe from all of these purchases and you know how to keep the important details only to you. If you've got more questions or follow ups, everyone is going to be just here answering your queries.

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

I think this is very necessary if you make transactions with large amounts of money. In fact, the fee is not worth much compared to the amount you send. If something goes wrong, we will regret it if we lost lots of money instead of small amount of the fee. I have seen many cases of people being sent to the wrong address or network the first time, not to mention you can get a virus and the address is changed when you paste the address.
It can be said that there are countless reasons and risks to lose money if you only deposit once. Currently, I always do transaction twice to ensure safety with any transactions. Transaction fees are getting cheaper and cheaper, so don't regret it, and especially in a cyberspace full of risks, double checking is extremely important necessary

[MFahad]

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?

I only test with small deposit when I am sending money to an excchange. I don't think there is any reason or need to test a Bitcoin wallet if that is in a costodial wallet. which means if you have the seed phrase and you are sure that the address was opened with right seed phrase.
but there is nothing wrong by doing that. receiving multiple transaction in one address is completely fine.

Or would you trust the wallet's algorithm and use a new address, even if you buy for a lot of money?

wallet algorithm doesn't have to do anything with bitcoin transactions. they are all done by blockchain. if the address is correct then yu'll receive the funds for sure. just double check the address before giving that to anyone to send you money.

[Ever-young]

If the address in question belongs to me I don’t see any reason why I should not use it twice beside when they talk about address use and reuse for privacy shake it’s on the aspect of receiving payment from different place or one place multiple times this will bridge your privacy.

On the aspect of me creating new address and buying large amount of bitcoin I will have to try the address out even when I know everything is correct there is no harm in having extra security measures so I can send first and see if it will get to the destination before I can proceed with the rest.

[michellee]

I might use several addresses and send some Bitcoin to several addresses. I will not save all Bitcoin in one address because it's a risk. Storing the Bitcoin in many addresses, especially at the new wallet address, can eliminate my concern.

I may use the address I used to store only a small amount of Bitcoin. It will depend on each person, and if we care about the security of our Bitcoin, we will look for ways to secure it. The way we use it may be different from what other people do.

You need to adjust to the conditions that exist in you. We can only suggest what we can because we don't do how you want to save the bitcoin. You need to consider how you will save the wallet, whether it's a hardware wallet or a software wallet that you install on a computer or smartphone.

[GbitG]

I might use several addresses and send some Bitcoin to several addresses. I will not save all Bitcoin in one address because it's a risk. Storing the Bitcoin in many addresses, especially at the new wallet address, can eliminate my concern.

Yeah obviously bro I agree with you that storing  Bitcoin into one address/wallet can cause in danger because, obviously, if a hacker assesses your address, there is no hope of escape. Therefore, I personally kept all of my funds, including Bitcoin, in different wallets so that I could avoid myself from risk. I have 4 wallets, and there are different funds in each wallet At the same time, Bitcoin itself has been diversified i.e. it has been distributed in 2 wallets.
 
Moreover, these people should also be advised not to keep Bitcoin in a wallet, If your portfolio is large, it means you have to create a separate wallet for Bitcoin because nowadays hackers are trying to get rid of you and your bitcoin Stolen And hackers are trying to find addresses that contain Bitcion and try different methods with it. They write down your address in from on-chain data of Blockchain and create fake addresses that are similar to your address, and send them to you. That is, they make the starting 4 figures and the ending 3 figures the same as your address and try to steal Bitcoin by sending the rest fake and up.

[Kelward]

This is obviously how plebs would think, probably because they are not yet familiar with the system and because you and your friends are scared that you might lose your coin if you send it to a new address that has not yet been used.

You can't really blame most newbies for this stereotyped mindset, I think that it's a healthy fear, because you don't want to lose your coins over what you're not very sure of. Infact some newbies will first receive crypto coins into a new wallet and then send it out, just to make sure that it works before endorsing it to hold their coins, especially when the money involved is much. The charade is not necessary but if it'll make a newbie without accurate knowledge to feel safer, then it's no harm to perform a trial test. Let him just keep the seed phrase in a secured location and never share the information with any of his friends.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

If I was to hit alot of money and I'm going to buy bitcoin worth lots of money, like from $5000 and above, it's sure that I am buying this amount of bitcoin as investment for the future, I will preferably love to keep this bitcoin in an entirely new address, and I will love to do it in a way that the source through which the bitcoin came into that new wallet can't be traced, so, here is what I will do.

I will buy the bitcoin from the exchange normally, then I will withdraw the bitcoins to my private and previously used bitcoin address, after the coins arrive there, I will use mixing service to move the bitcoin to my entirely new bitcoin address, this way, any body looking at that address on the blockchain can't tell how or where the bitcoins in the wallet came from, or how it got there.

[Natsuu]

Choosing whether to use new addresses every time you buy crypto is like picking your flavor. Some like the secrecy of a new address each round for that extra privacy kick. Others go with a test run – a small transaction to check if the address plays nice before the big spend. And then there are the easy-goers who trust their wallet's mojo to whip up secure addresses without bothering with the new address dance every time. It's all about what feels right in the crypto jungle

[lizarder]

Last night we (five friends) had a lively discussion about reusing receiving addresses. The consensus was: for small amounts, new (never used) addresses are the way to go. Especially to protect privacy.  

Are you planning to buy bitcoin by collecting funds from five people and storing them at one address. If that is true then I think what you are doing will not be good because in the future there will be problems with assets because of the problem of sharing profits. If you use a certain wallet, privacy is not a problem because we do not require KYC so privacy is much safer.

But what if you plan to buy BTC for a lot of money at once? Like 10,000 or 50,000 USD or even more?

Would you use an address twice to be 100% sure that the address works as expected and sends the BTC to your wallet? Would you perform a test transaction first and then reuse the address for the main purchase if the test is successful?  

You should be more confident in the address you hold and if you think the address is no longer safe then replacing it with a new address is the best decision so that your assets don't just disappear. Usually, when we use an address to store Bitcoin assets, we must be quite careful and security issues are the main choice that we pay attention to because it would be a shame if we ignored security.

Doing a trial first is also good to ensure the level of security and if you are in doubt then the next step is to replace it with a new address. From what I know, people will definitely look at the security side of storing bitcoin because they will suffer quite a loss when the assets we own are lost due to hacking or something else.

[btc78]

It is quite interesting to hear that there are a lot of different perspectives regarding this topic I would love to hear about those and really dive deep into why you guys think like that because personally I do not see the point of re-using an old address

I do know that in some cases people send out bitcoin to the wrong addresses and this could be terrifying especially if it is a large amount of money who knows if it will still come back to you, right? But i think the key here is just to recheck everything and make sure that your what you are inputting is correct

[jrrsparkles]

I know the wallet I am using is not going to give me the wrong address but if that is my first 50K worth of BTC transfer then definitely I will go with the one I used to receive at least once but there is no loss in the privacy as long as the address you used to receive is not connected to anywhere that connects you to the KYCed service platform.

[South Park]

This is obviously how plebs would think, probably because they are not yet familiar with the system and because you and your friends are scared that you might lose your coin if you send it to a new address that has not yet been used.

You can't really blame most newbies for this stereotyped mindset, I think that it's a healthy fear, because you don't want to lose your coins over what you're not very sure of. Infact some newbies will first receive crypto coins into a new wallet and then send it out, just to make sure that it works before endorsing it to hold their coins, especially when the money involved is much. The charade is not necessary but if it'll make a newbie without accurate knowledge to feel safer, then it's no harm to perform a trial test. Let him just keep the seed phrase in a secured location and never share the information with any of his friends.

When in doubt it is preferable that newbies are more cautious than usual than the other way around, this way they can at least convince themselves that what they are doing is right and do not worry about those coins they are holding for the long term, as we have seen many horror stories of people that did not verify their download, sent their coins to that wallet and only realized their coins have been stolen months after the fact, and in some cases they kept losing money as they kept sending money to the compromised wallet before they realized what happened.

[Wiwo]

If it belongs to a cold wallet device then I can use the address twice since it comes with the device and there is nothing I can do at that point.

But if it is a wallet that I created online,  I will rather choose to use a new address any time I want to receive Bitcoin from a third party,  this will give you more privacy and security compared to using the same old address all the time so we have to take note of that to know the we need to give up on the old address.