A Bitcoin address is like your bank account number - but for the internet of money. It’s a unique string of letters and numbers that anyone can use to send you bitcoin. No names, no paperwork, no middleman. Just pure, permissionless value transfer.

Think of it as a public-facing pseudonym on the Bitcoin network. It’s generated from your wallet using your private key, but it doesn’t reveal any personal info. You can create as many addresses as you want - no fees, no approval - just fresh, cryptographic identities at the click of a button. Most Bitcoin addresses start with “1”, “3”, or “bc1”, depending on the type (legacy, multisig, or SegWit/bech32).

But under the hood, they all serve the same purpose: telling the network where to send bitcoin. When someone sends you bitcoin, they’re publishing a transaction to the blockchain that says: “Move this value to this address.” Once it’s confirmed by miners and included in a block, the funds are yours - provably, immutably, and forever. But here’s the key: your bitcoin isn’t stored in the address. It’s recorded on the blockchain as unspent value assigned to that address. And only the private key linked to it can unlock and spend it.

That’s why the golden rule is: not your keys, not your coins. In Bitcoin terms, an address is your public interface. A lockbox anyone can deposit into, but only you can open. Simple. Powerful. Sovereign.