Make sure the wallet you send your funds to is really under your control.
Why should I check receiving/deposit address?
Bitcoin transactions are completely immutable, which means if you send your bitcoin to the wrong address, you will make it inaccessible. Thankfully, you can use hardware wallets to check your bitcoin address on the device before sending funds.
Checking your address on your device teaches you 3 very important things about the address and the computer you are working with, which ensures that the address is safe to send funds to.
- If your device displays the address, you know that the address was built correctly. In multisig, you know that your address is 2-of-3 for example, and not 2-of-5 where an attacker has added 2 more of their keys and actually controls the funds
- You know that the computer you are working on does not have a virus or malware that finds and replaces bitcoin addresses with an attackers address. If the address you see on your computer matches the address on your device, your computer isn’t compromised
- If your device displays the right address, it’s your device telling you that you hold a key to the address on the device. The address is under the control of the device.
Checking the address on your device should be done before sending meaningful amounts of funds to the address.
How to check vault address on Trezor
- Log in to your Unchained vault and select deposit and show address. Below the address, you can click the "Confirm on Trezor" button.
- Select the name of the key you have connected to your computer, unlock the device, and select connect to Trezor.
- Give the Trezor permission to check your address by selecting allow and export. Now your multisignature address should display on the screen of your Trezor.
- Navigate back to the Unchained vault page instead of the Trezor connect screen to ensure that you have 2 companies telling you the same address.
- If the address matches, select the green checkmark to confirm. Now you know that the Trezor holds a key to the address you see on your screen.
How to check vault address on Coldcard
Import multisignature Coldcard configuration file
Import your multisignature Coldcard configuration file by downloading it from Unchained onto your SD card, unlocking the Coldcard and plugging the SD card into the device, selecting settings, multisig wallets, then importing from SD. This will tell you the multisignature quorum (2-of-3). You only need to do this step 1 time.
Check vault address on Coldcard
- Go to Address explorer from the main menu
- Open up the multisig file below the custom path option
- Scroll down until you see an equal sign and carrot
- The Coldcard will display the first and last 8 digits of your multisignature bitcoin address
Can I check the vault address on Ledger devices?
As of now, Ledger devices do not support address checks.
Wrap up
If you have checked your 2-of-3 multisig address on 2-of-3 devices, you know for certain that the address is under your complete control and is totally safe to send as much bitcoin to as you would like.