All about Bitcoin Extended Public Keys

Extended public keys (xpub) can be used to generate an almost infinite number of public keys and thus also Bitcoin addresses. Why Bitcoiners know their xpub and addresses should not be reused.

Word is slowly getting around that Bitcoiner should refrain from reusing their addresses. Finally, there are significant disadvantages in terms of user privacy. Anyone who receives all of their BTC assets at the same address also shares their account balance with all other users via the blockchain. And who wants that?

These days, however, it is becoming more and more common practice that wallet provider addresses do not use multiple times, but instead generate a new one for each transaction. It's a good thing.

So that wallets can always generate new addresses for matching public-private key pairs, a so-called extended public key, also called xpub, is required. The xpub can be thought of as a kind of master key, from which an almost endless amount of public keys - and thus also BTC addresses - can be generated. One speaks of so-called child keys .

Keys, All About Bitcoin Extended Public Keys

The whole thing then looks simplified:

Keys, All About Bitcoin Extended Public Keys

Those: https://bitcoin.org/en/wallets-guide#distributing-only-wallets.

That is why it is so important that Bitcoiner keep their seed, which is often encoded in the form of 12 to 24 words, safe. Because, as can be seen in the diagram, all key pairs can be calculated from the seed and in effect has control over linked UTXOs who owns the seed.

As the name suggests, Extended Public Keys are a special type of public key. To receive BTC, it is therefore sufficient to publish the xpub. What cannot be done can only be sent using the xpubs BTC. Finally, a digital signature is required for the transfer of UTXOs - and this can only be done by the owner of the private key.

All address formats supported

Extended public keys always begin with one of the following prefixes: " xpub " , " ypub " or " zpub " . The first letter indicates which type of address can be generated with the respective xpub: xpubs become legacy addresses, ypubs and zpubs BIP49-compatible P2SH or bech32 addresses with SegWit support.

You can recognize P2SH by the fact that they start with a 3 (in contrast to legacy addresses, which start with a 1) and bech32 start with " bc1 " .

Depending on which wallet you use, the Extended Public Key looks different. Ledger uses xpubs, Trezor uses ypubs.

You can read here how to find out the extended public key using Ledger Live for your hardware wallet .

► Get it here: https://amzn.to/2CLBOgK

►Website: http://axtschmiede.com

Support My Work On Patreon https://www.patreon.com/zealftw

If you want to support me for free then you can do so via the following options, thank you!

Use the Bittube browser And Make Money While Browsing! Here’s the link: https://bittubeapp.com/?ref?2JXLODL50

Publish0x – a place where both Readers and Bloggers Earn Crypto https://www.publish0x.com/?a=open5lPd7A

Earn Bitcoin through one of the oldest Faucets https://freebitco.in/?r=18413045

Earn Litecoin http://moonliteco.in/?ref=b50d5a9004e3

Earn BItcoin Cash http://moonbitcoin.cash/?ref=536CAB98A8B8

Earn BTC http://moonbit.co.in/?ref=17c0b775e45a

Join me On Minds and earn even more Cryptocurrency! https://www.minds.com/register?referrer=THauerBYI

Signup and get a FREE Guide on How To Create your Morning Routine! https://mailchi.mp/f5cabc2538c0/selfimprovement