What is a Wallet Address?
A wallet address is a unique string of characters that identifies a destination on a blockchain. It's like a bank account number -- you share it with others so they can send you cryptocurrency.
How Addresses Work
Addresses are derived from public-key cryptography:
- You generate a private key (a secret random number). This is like your password -- never share it.
- The private key generates a public key through a one-way mathematical function.
- The public key is hashed to create your address -- the short, shareable identifier.
Address Formats by Chain
| Chain | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum/EVM | 0x + 40 hex chars | 0xd8dA6BF26964aF9D7eEd9e03E53415D37aA96045 |
| Bitcoin | Starts with 1, 3, or bc1 | bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq |
| Solana | 32-44 base58 chars | 7xKXtg2CW87d97TXJSDpbD5jBkheTqA83TZRuJosgAsU |
What Can You Do with an Address?
- Receive crypto: Share your address to receive payments
- View activity: Look up any address on Omniscanner to see its transaction history
- Track balances: See how much cryptocurrency an address holds
- Verify transactions: Confirm that a payment was sent to the right place
Checking an Address on Omniscanner
Enter any address in the search bar to see its recent transactions, token transfers, and activity. Omniscanner supports addresses across all 147+ supported networks.