The BTC.com wallet creates secure bitcoin addresses that start with a 3, because it’s a multi-signature wallet.
You might have noticed that some bitcoin addresses start with a 1 and some start with a 3.
For example, you might be able to conclude that this address is generated with a multi-signature wallet because it starts with “3” →34qkc2iac6RsyxZVfyE2S5U5WcRsbg2dpK.
This address however is from a non-multi-signature wallet because it starts with “1” → 185GYRXheZckJNBHGEdt4b9GSYcXV9r7fw.
You can check this yourself by opening your wallet and looking though all your used and newly generated addresses. Although not all bitcoin addresses that start with a “3” make use of multi-signature technology, this is one simple way to try to determine if your wallet is multi-signature or not, because addresses that start with “1” are never multi-signature.
Multi-signature = security
BTC.com is one of the very few wallets that makes use of multi-signature technology. This means that in order to make a payment from your wallet, you need 2 out of 3 private keys (signatures).
Your primary private key is encrypted in your wallet, and is the key you would normally use to send transactions. Your second private key was given to you unencrypted as a backup PDF, when you initially created the wallet. The third private key, which is unable to move funds on its own, is used by BTC.com to co-sign your transactions, which you signed using your first key.
This multi-signature setup allows BTC.com wallet users to remain in full and exclusive control of their funds, while providing an additional layer of theft protection that a non-multi signature setup can’t provide:
- If BTC.com’s security system detects a potential fraudulent attempt to access an account, transaction co-signing gets disabled. This gives the hacker no ability to move funds out of a potentially compromised wallet.
- Users are always able to recover their rightful funds using the two private keys provided to them.
- Variety of additional user-defined security settings and limits, that will be rolled out in early 2018.
Is your wallet not multi-signature?
If you are a BTC.com wallet user you can rest assure that your private keys are generated securely, and no further steps are required from your part.
If your wallet is not multi-signature, we would encourage you to consider upgrading to a multi-signature wallet.
You can create a BTC.com wallet in your web browser at wallet.btc.com or download the BTC.com wallet for iOS and Android.