How To Receive Bitcoin

Receiving Bitcoin is the easiest part of the whole process.

Every Bitcoin wallet has a receive address — a long string of letters and numbers unique to your wallet. Think of it like an email address for money. You share it, someone sends to it, the Bitcoin arrives.

In your wallet app, look for a button that says “Receive.” Tap it and your address appears — usually as both a string of text and a QR code. The QR code is just a scannable version of the same address. Either works.

Share that address with whoever is sending you Bitcoin. They enter it into their wallet or exchange, specify the amount, and send. Within a few minutes — sometimes faster — the transaction appears in your wallet as “pending.” Once the network confirms it (usually one to three confirmations, which takes roughly ten to thirty minutes), it shows as complete.

A few things worth knowing:

Your address can be reused, but best practice is to generate a new one for each transaction. Most wallets do this automatically. It’s a privacy measure — reusing the same address makes it easier for anyone analysing the blockchain to track your activity.

Bitcoin transactions are irreversible. If someone sends Bitcoin to the wrong address, there is no undo button. Double-check addresses before confirming anything.

Bitcoin transactions are also public. The amount and addresses involved are visible on the blockchain to anyone. Names aren’t attached — but if your address is known to be yours, the history is traceable.

Tomorrow: how sending Bitcoin works.

— The Daily Bit