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- 1 When words are put into a Bitcoin address it becomes a vanity Bitcoin address.
- 2 The Vanity addresses give addresses a unique identity as they are human-readable words on the Bitcoin blockchain.
A Bitcoin vanity address is like a signature on the blockchain. This gives a personal touch in the world of digital finance. They are 26-35 alphanumeric characters in a specific pattern. The users can customize their addresses and can send particular messages within the address. Vanity Bitcoin addresses became popular after the launch of Bitcoin in 2009.
More Details about Vanity Bitcoin Addresses
VanityGen was the first vanity address generator. It was released on GitHub in 2012 as an open-source platform. The first mention of Vanity address was made in 2013 in a crypto forum Bitcointalk.org which was created by Nakamoto.
Vanity addresses are also available before Bitcoin. They are obtainable on other networks like Ethereum. Bitcoin vanity address has 26-35 alphanumeric characters while Ethereum vanity address has only one feature: hexadecimal numbers. Ether addresses can have numbers from 0 to 9 and letters from A to F.
Methods Used to Create Vanity Bitcoin Addresses
There are two methods for creating a vanity Bitcoin address. The first method is manual and the second is using a specialized vanity address generator service. The first method needs coding skills and relies on software. It is regarded as the most secure way which allows users to keep the seed phrase private.
The owner is the sole holder of the funds within the address as the user is the only one with the private key. The manual method needs the installation of vanity address-generating software like VanityGen. It is available on GitHub. It requires computing power.
A general estimation from various sources shows that generating a five-symbol vanity address takes one hour using a personal computer while larger sequences like seven symbols could take up to three months. Powerful graphic cards or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips can reduce the time to generate addresses.
The second method of creating the vanity Bitcoin address is more easy but less secure. This involves third-party services known as vanity address miners. It has security risks as the address or the private key will first come to the miners and then to the user. Websites like Vanitygen(dot)net offer the vanity generation service. The service takes charges for generating the desired symbols and sends the private key through email.
Prerequisites for Vanity Bitcoin Address
It is important to mention that not all the numbers and letters can be included in a vanity Bitcoin address. Some letters like the capital O, I, and small i and the number 0 are excluded from the set of 26-35 alphanumeric characters available in all Bitcoin addresses.
Tetek, Trezor’s Bitcoin expert, strongly advises not to use vanity addresses even if it is generated securely, it promotes address reuse which is not good for privacy. If a Bitcoin address is used more than once then a person can easily identify the owner and the transactions.
Summary
A Vanity Bitcoin address is a way of highlighting the addresses with a personal choice of words and symbols. However, it is not the safest way as it promotes the usage of the same private key address which makes it vulnerable to attack as its reuse can enhance the chance of tracking, which results in identification of the owner.
Adarsh Singh is a true connoisseur of Defi and Blockchain technologies, who left his job at a “Big 4” multinational finance firm to pursue crypto and NFT trading full-time. He has a strong background in finance, with MBA from a prestigious B-school. He delves deep into these innovative fields, unraveling their intricacies. Uncovering hidden gems, be it coins, tokens or NFTs, is his expertise. NFTs drive deep interest for him, and his creative analysis of NFTs opens up engaging narratives. He strives to bring decentralized digital assets accessible to the masses.
