Ethereum Addresses: The Basics

First things first what an Ethereum address is. It’s a string of characters that looks something like this: `0x1234567890ABCDEF1234567890abcdef`.

Now, you might be wondering why the ***** there are so many letters and numbers in it. Well, my friend, that’s because Ethereum addresses use a unique format called hexadecimal (or “hex” for short). It’s essentially just a way to represent numbers using both digits and letters from 0-9 and A-F.

So why do we need these fancy addresses in the first place? Well, they allow us to send and receive Ether (ETH) and other tokens on the Ethereum network! Without them, it would be impossible for anyone to keep track of who owns what or where their funds are going.

But wait there’s more! These addresses aren’t just random strings of characters. They actually have a specific format that follows some rules and conventions. Let me break them down for you:

– The address always starts with “0x” (without the quotes) to indicate that it’s in hexadecimal format.
– After the “0x”, there are usually 40 characters, but sometimes they can be shorter or longer depending on how many digits and letters were used when generating the address.
– The first two characters of an Ethereum address (after removing the “0x”) will always be either a “1” or a “3”. This is because there are only two types of addresses: contract accounts and externally owned accounts. Contract accounts start with “0x4” or “0xC”, but we’ll get into that later on.
– The remaining characters (after removing the first two) will be a combination of digits and letters, following the hexadecimal format rules I mentioned earlier.

But wait, what’s this “checksum” thing that everyone keeps talking about? Let me explain…

Ethereum Addresses: The Checksum

Now that we know how to read and understand an Ethereum address, checksums. A checksum is essentially a way of verifying that the address you have entered into your wallet or other application is correct.

Here’s why: when you copy and paste an Ethereum address from one place to another (like from a website to your wallet), there’s always a chance that some characters might get accidentally changed along the way due to copy-paste errors or other issues. This can cause problems with sending funds, as the wrong address could result in losing your ETH forever!

To prevent this from happening, Ethereum addresses have a built-in checksum that helps ensure they are entered correctly every time. The checksum is essentially an extra set of characters at the end of the address (after removing the “0x”) that has been calculated using some fancy math and algorithms.

Here’s how it works: when you generate a new Ethereum address, your wallet or other application will automatically calculate the checksum for you based on the first 20 characters of the address (without the “0x”). The resulting checksum is then added to the end of the address. This ensures that if someone copies and pastes this address into another application, they’ll always get the correct version with the checksum included!

Remember, always double-check your addresses before sending any funds to make sure everything is entered correctly!