What is the difference between a wallet and an address?¶

A wallet and a blockchain address are related, but they are not the same thing.

Avoid the dangerous assumption¶

The dangerous assumption is that one visible address represents the entire wallet or all activity controlled by one person.

A wallet manages keys and may generate or control many addresses.

An address is an identifier used on a particular blockchain to send, receive or reference assets.

One wallet may create a new address for each transaction or account.

An exchange may also assign deposit addresses while retaining control of the underlying keys.

This means that tracing one address may reveal only part of the relevant activity.

It also means that several addresses may be linked to one wallet, provider or controller.

Relevant evidence may include the wallet application, account, seed phrase, key material, address list, transaction history and provider records.

Preserve every address exactly and record the network and asset.

Do not assume that addresses with different formats belong to different people, or that the same address format means the same network.

A wallet may support several blockchains and tokens.

The wallet interface may group several addresses under one displayed account.

Attribution requires evidence connecting addresses to the wallet and the wallet to a person or provider.

When reporting, state whether the evidence relates to a specific address, a wallet application, a wallet account or a set of addresses under common control.

Operational takeaway¶

Treat an address as one network identifier and the wallet as the wider key-management system that may control many addresses across several assets or networks.