Bitcoin address generator

Warning: it seems you’re running this generator from a live website. For valuable wallets, it is highly recommended to run the site from an offline computer. You can save this website by pressing CTRL-S or right click -> Save website (or something)

Beginner’s guide

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Bitcoin allows its users to send money over the internet, without any restrictions. It is decentralized, open source, and gives users full control over their money. For more information, visit https://bitcoin.org

What is a bitcoin address, and what is a private key?

To receive bitcoin, you need a bitcoin address. Anyone who knows your bitcoin address can send bitcoins to you. To spend money from a bitcoin address, you need its private key. As its name suggests, you must keep your private key safe, because anyone who knows your private key, can spend your bitcoins. Your address however can be shared to anyone, as they can only send you money, but they cannot spend from it.
The address and the private key are related in a mathematical way, so the address can be calculated from the private key, but it is impossible to calculate the private key the your address.

What is a paper wallet?

A paper wallet is a bitcoin address and the private key printed to paper. Paper wallets are a safe way to store bitcoin, as they are offline, so they cannot be stolen by hackers. However, you should be careful when making paper wallets, so no one can actually steal them. You can read more at the “Security tips” section on this site.

What is a legacy address, and what is a segwit address (and bech32 segwit address)?

Legacy address is the default bitcoin address format, they start with the character 1. Segwit addresses use the ” segregated witness ” feature, allowing users to send transactions for a lower fee. It is recommended to use segwit addresses over legacy addresses. Segwit addresses start with the character 3. Bech32 is a new address format for native segwit addresses, but they are not widely supported yet.

What is Bip38 encryption?

Bip38 encryption allows you to protect your paper wallet with a password, so if your paper wallet is stolen, or its private key is exposed, your paper wallet will still be safe. However, if you use bip38 encryption, you must remember the password very well, because if you forget the password, the paper wallet will be as worthless as if you lost the private key. Bip38 was designed to resist brute-force attacks, that’s why it’s practically impossible to recover the wallet if the password is forgotten. You can unlock a bip38 encrypted wallet on the “Address details” section of this site.