What a Bitcoin address is: vanity addresses and their risks
How addresses come from keys, how vanity generators find addresses with chosen letters, and the scams around them.
From key to address
Your wallet picks a random private key, derives a public key from it, and hashes that into the address you share. You can't run the steps backwards.
Vanity addresses
A vanity generator simply tries many random keys until the address starts with letters you like, such as '1Love'. Each extra character makes it about 58 times harder.
Risks
Never use a website that generates the key for you; whoever made the key can keep a copy. Also watch for address poisoning: scammers create look-alike addresses that match the first and last characters of one you use. Always check the full address.
FAQ
- Should I reuse one address?
- It works, but a new address for each payment is better for privacy. Modern wallets do this automatically.
On the site
Original bitcointalk.org threads
- Vanitygen: Vanity bitcoin address generator/miner · 3,803 replies / 1,155,240 views (as of 13 Oct 2026)
Our own explanation; forum threads are linked, not copied. Not investment advice.
More topics
- The Bitcoin puzzle transaction: why keys can't be guessed
- Bitcoin supply and inflation over time
- My Bitcoin transaction is stuck: RBF and CPFP explained
- Lost wallet password or seed: what can be recovered
- Bitcoin or gold? A plain comparison
- Satoshi Nakamoto and Hal Finney: the first Bitcoin transaction
- Bitcoin Pizza Day: 10,000 BTC for two pizzas
- History of Bitcoin hacks: why 'not your keys, not your coins'