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Crypto and DeFi · On-Chain Basics

Addresses and what they reveal

Show what a crypto address is, how it relates to a public key, and what anyone on the internet can see about it.

3 min read+25 XPLesson 42 of 79
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Crypto and DeFi

On-Chain Basics

Lesson 42 of 7953%
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Lesson 42 of 79Crypto and DeFiOn-Chain Basics

Today's tiny win: make one idea click.

Show what a crypto address is, how it relates to a public key, and what anyone on the internet can see about it.

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Your address is a glass mailbox

A crypto address is a string of letters and numbers — something like 0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb1 on Ethereum, or a longer string starting with bc1 on Bitcoin. That address is a public hash derived from your public key. Anyone can send funds to it. Anyone can also look it up and see exactly what's inside.

Wick holds a clipboard with checks next to balance, full history and who you trade with, and a red X next to your name, showing what any stranger can look up.Public on-chainBalanceFull historyWho you trade withYour name
Wick saysAnyone can see your address's balance and full history, just not your name.

Here's what your address publicly reveals, the moment someone types it into a block explorer: your current balance, every transaction in and out for the entire history of the wallet, the date and time of each transaction, the other addresses you've interacted with, and any tokens, NFTs, or DeFi positions tied to the address. No password required. Nothing to log into. It's all open to anyone with a web browser.

This is why traders treat addresses very differently from bank accounts. With a bank, your statements are private. On-chain, your statements are a public website. Every time you swap, lend, borrow, mint, or transfer, you're adding to a permanent record. Forensic firms — Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Arkham — make a business out of clustering addresses into entities and attaching identities to them.

Wick points at a chalkboard: no name on it, link it once, whole history opens, teaching that pseudonymous is not the same as anonymous.PseudonymousNo name on itLink it onceWhole history opens
Wick saysYour address is pseudonymous: once your name gets linked, anyone can read your whole history.

The practical takeaway for new traders: don't reuse your main wallet for everything. Many active traders keep separate addresses for hot trading, long-term holding, and DeFi experimentation. It doesn't make you invisible — but it makes the picture harder for outsiders to assemble. A second important habit: never share your full main wallet address publicly unless you intend that history to be public. A trading screenshot in a group chat, a tweet with your wallet visible, a charity donation post — all of these become permanent breadcrumbs that link your identity to everything that wallet ever did. We'll cover wallet hygiene more in later chapters; for now, just internalize that an address is public and permanent, and that you control how easy you make it for anyone to assemble the puzzle.

Two cards: a green card says use separate wallets for separate jobs, a coral card says post your main wallet in a group chat, showing a simple privacy habit.Do thisUse separatewallets forseparate jobsNot thisPost your mainwallet in a groupchat
Wick saysKeep separate wallets and never post your main address, so your history is harder to piece together.

Recap: an address is a public hash of a public key. Balance and full history are visible to anyone. You're pseudonymous, not anonymous — and the moment your identity is linked, the whole history opens up.

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1. Someone pastes your crypto address into Etherscan. What can they see?

2. What's the difference between 'pseudonymous' and 'anonymous'?

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